The Third Reich In Antarctica. The German Antarctic Expedition 1938-39

Ludecke Cornelia & Summerhayes Colin

ISBN 10: 1852971037 / ISBN 13: 9781852971038

Published by Bluntisham Books / Erskine Press, 2012

About this Item

259pp, hardback, New in dustwrapper The origins of the Third German Antarctic Expedition lie in a combination of the aspirations of German scientists to contribute to exploring and understanding the Antarctic environ ment, and the Nazi Party's drive for self-sufficiency on the road to war. In 1936/37 Germany had joined the whaling nations in the South Atlantic, keen to obtain whale oil without having to use valuable foreign currency reserves needed for rearmament. Considering that it needed a local whaling base, Germany decided to explore the possibility of setting up a supply base on the coast of Dronning Maud Land. The man in charge of German whaling was Councillor of State Helmut Wohlthat who in 1938 put this idea of unclaimed Antarctic territory as a territorial basis for German whaling, to his superior, Hermann Goring, the Commissioner for the Four Year Plan for Economic Development. Following consultation with other ministries, Goring approved the concept, and assigned resources for a reconnaissance expedition, including a ship and two seaplanes for aerial survey and photographic mapping. The Third German Antarctic Expedition was born. The expedition was led by Alfred Ritscher, a captain in the German navy and on 19 January 1939 Schwabenland arrived in Dronning Maud Land and began charting the region. Nazi German flags were placed on the sea ice along the coast and the area was named Neu Schwabenland after the ship. Its scientific studies, using state of the art equipment for meteorology and oceanography, made major discoveries. The expedition retuned to Hamburg on 11 April, 1939. This is the story of an ambitious and little-known expedition, which set out to map a large piece of Antarctica from the air, and in the process discovered an 800 km long mountain range and previously unsuspected freshwater lakes. Glacier Books are experienced and professional booksellers. We take pride in offering carefully described books and excellent customer service.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Third Reich In Antarctica. The German Antarctic Expedition 1938-39
• Publisher: Bluntisham Books / Erskine Press
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1852971037
• ISBN 13: 9781852971038
• Binding: hardcover
• Edition: 2012 First Edition.
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

About this title

Synopsis

The origins of the Third German Antarctic Expedition lie in a unique combination of the aspirations of German scientists to contribute to exploring and understanding the Antarctic environment, and the Nazi Party s drive for self-sufficiency on the road to war. In 1936/37 Germany had joined the whaling nations in the South Atlantic, keen to obtain whale oil without having to use valuable foreign currency reserves needed for rearmament. Considering that it needed a local whaling base, Germany decided to explore the possibility of setting up a supply base on the coast of Dronning Maud Land. The man in charge of German whaling was Councillor of State Helmut Wohlthat who, in 1938, put this idea of unclaimed Antarctic territory as a territorial basis for German whaling to his superior, Hermann Göring, the Commissioner for the Four Year Plan for economic development. Following consultation with other ministries, Göring approved the concept, and on 9 May 1938 assigned resources for a reconnaissance expedition, including a ship and two seaplanes for aerial survey and photographic mapping. The Third German Antarctic Expedition was born. The expedition was led by Alfred Ritscher, a captain in the merchant marine On 19 January 1939 Schwabenland arrived off Dronning Maud Land and began charting the region. Nazi German flags were placed on the sea ice along the coast and the area was named Neu Schwabenland after the ship. Photographic survey flights were made by the ship s two Dornier-Wal seaplanes which altogether flew over hundreds of thousands of square kilometres and took more than 16,000 aerial photographs. On its return trip to Germany the expedition made oceanographic studies near Bouvet Island and investigated Trinidade Island off the coast of Brazil, arriving back in Hamburg on 11 April 1939. This is the story of an ambitious and little-known expedition, which set out to map a large piece of Antarctica from the air, and in the process discovered an 800 km long mountain range and previously unsuspected freshwater lakes. The authors had generous access to private files which enabled them to lift a veil on the expedition, the official files of which were more or less totally destroyed during World war II. Access to the files provided them with authentic insight into the background to the expedition, which as well as helping them to give an extensive account of the activiyies and outcomes of the expedition, enabled them to look at and ultimately dispel many of the myths about the expedition and its aftermath. The book includes 16pp colour and b&w plates and over 90 photographs, illustrations and maps.

About the Author

Cornelia Lüdecke holds a diploma in Meteorology (1980) and a PhD in the History of Natural Sciences (1994) from the University of Munich, where she wrote her thesis on the history of German polar research in the period 1900-1939, and Erich von Drygalski's influence. Since 2002 she has taught the History of Earth Sciences at Hamburg University s Centre of History of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Technics. She founded and leads the Action Group on History of Antarctic Research within the Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research (SCAR). From 2001-2005 she was Vice-President and from 2006-2010 President of the International Commission on History of Meteorology. Conny has worked in the field in Svalbard, has visited the Antarctic Peninsula, and travelled through the Northwest Passage. She has edited three conference proceedings and published 150 papers, four books and a catalogue on the history of geography, oceanography, meteorology and (most of all) polar science. Colin Summerhayes holds a BSc in Geology and a PhD in Geochemistry from London University, and MSc and DSc degrees in Geology from Victoria University, New Zealand. Between 1988 and 1995 he was Director of the UK s Institute of Oceanographic Sciences Deacon Laboratory, before becoming Deputy Director of the new Southampton Oceanography Centre. From 1997 to 2004 he was Director of the Global Ocean Observing System Project Office for UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, in Paris, before being appointed Executive Director of the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR), based at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge. Colin is now an Emeritus Associate of the Scott Polar Research Institute. He has carried out research on the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic, and visited Dronning Maud Land. He has co-edited eight scientific books and some 230 scientific papers and articles. The history of scientific research in the Antarctic is one of his hobbies.