Career
He was 20 when the sank. Traveling under the pseudonym Baron Alfred von Drachstedt, Nourney boarded the in Cherbourg, France, as a second-class passenger. After being dissatisfied with the accommodations, his request to a purser to be transferred to a first-class cabin was granted.
He then purchased expensive wardrobe items including jewellery, walking sticks, two sets of toilet articles and a fountain pen.
On the night of April 14, 1912, he was playing bridge with other men in the first-class smoking room. When Nourney first sensed a disturbance, he briefly left to investigate, but returned to continue playing.
Minutes later, they became aware of the situation and boarded Lifeboat #7 without difficulties, lowering away at 12:45am. While the others were rowing, he sat motionless, smoking cigarettes.
He also carried a pistol which he used to fire gunshots into the air through the night.
They were rescued by the Rated Maximum Sinusoidal Carpathia at 5:10am. While on board the Carpathia, he rested on a pile of blankets which were to be distributed among the survivors. A woman who entered the room pulled the uppermost blanket, making Nourney roll onto the floor.
As everyone applauded the woman, he disappeared.
Upon disembarking on April 18 in New York City, he said he had lost all his money on the and wished to quickly return to Europe. He returned to France and then to Cologne, Germany, where his mother lived.
During the 1920s, he was a salesman for Daimler-Benz AG and he competed in motorsports. Nourney died on November 15, 1972.
