- Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition
The Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition was an expedition that ran from 1872-74 and discovered
Franz-Josef Land . According toJulius von Payer , one of the leaders, the journey was to find the north-eastern passage. It actually explored the area northwest ofNovaya Zemlya . According to the other leader,Karl Weyprecht , thenorth pole was a secondary target. The financing was an estimated total costs 175,000 florins from Austro-Hungarian nobles. The two main financial contributors wereCount Johann Nepomuk Wilczek (1837 - 1922) and Count Ödon Zichy (1811-1894)The main ship was the "Tegetthoff", named for the Austrian
Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff , under whom Weyprecht served. The ship was built by Teklenborg & Beurmann inBremerhaven . It was a three-mastedschooner of 220 tons, 38.34 m long, with a 100 hp (75 kW) steam engine. The crew came from all over Austria-Hungary, especially fromIstria andDalmatia .Journey
The "Tegetthoff" with her crew of 24 left
Tromsø in July 1872. At the end of August she got locked in pack-ice north ofNovaya Zemlya and drifted to hitherto unknown polar regions. It was on this drift when the explorers discovered an archipelago which they namedFranz-Josef Land after Austro-HungarianEmperor Franz Joseph I.In May 1874 boat captain Weyprecht decided to abandon the ice-locked ship and try to return by sledges and boats. On
14 August 1874 the expedition reached the open sea and on3 September finally set foot onRussia n mainland.ignificance
The expedition's discoveries and experiences meant a significant contribution to polar science, especially the discovery of the
Northeast passage byAdolf Erik Nordenskiöld . They also gave an impetus to International Polar Years, meaning a shift from sports-like races of single expeditions to worldwide scientific cooperation in exploring the polar regions.The expedition yielded various results in the fields of
meteorology ,astronomy ,geodesy ,magnetism ,zoology , and sightings ofaurora borealis . They were published by theAcademy of Sciences in 1878. Besides, there are a book ("The Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition 1872-74") and paintings by Payer - probably the only paintings of a polar expedition created by the explorer himself.The expedition was selected as main motif for the Austrian Admiral Tegetthoff Ship and The Polar Expedition commemorative coin minted in
June 8 2005 . The reverse side of the coin shows two explorers in Arctic gear with the frozen ship behind them.Bibliography
* Karl Weyprecht, "Die Metamorphosen des Polareises. Österr.-Ung. Arktische Expedition 1872-1874" (The Metamorphosis of Polar Ice. The Austro-Hungarian Polar Expedition of 1872-1874)
* Julius von Payer "New Lands within the Arctic Circle" (1876)
* [http://www.poeschek.at Andreas Pöschek] : "Geheimnis Nordpol. Die Österreichisch-Ungarische Nordpolexpedition 1872-1874." - Wien: 1999 ( [http://www.poeschek.at/de/research/index.php download as PDF] )Further reading
* Christoph Ransmayr, "The Terrors of Ice and Darkness".
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