German North Polar Expedition

German North Polar Expedition was a short series of mid-19th century German expeditions to the Arctic. The aim was to explore the North Polar Region and to brand the newly united, Prussian-led German Empire as a great power. In 1866, the German geographer August Petermann wrote a pamphlet ("Proclamation to the German Nation") stongly advocating German participation in the international quest for the North Pole, which kicked off the setup of a German expedition.

First German North Polar Expedition

The first expedition took place in the summer of 1868 and was led by Carl Koldewey on the vessel "Grönland". The expedition explored some hitherto unknown coastal tracts of northeastern Spitsbergen, but did otherwise not lead to any new scientific knowledge. However, it served as preparation for the second expedition [http://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/arctic/Arctic43-1-83.pdf Venzke, Jörg-Friedhelm (1990) The 1869/70 German North Polar Expedition. The Arctic 43(1): 83-85.] ] .

econd German North Polar Expedition

The second expedition consisted of a two-vessel convoy:
* "Germania" – a schooner constructed for the purpose of the expedition of extra strong planks and having an auxiliary engine – under the command of Carl Koldewey and having a crew of 15 men.
*"Hansa" – a smaller escort schooner built 1864 and enforced for the expedition - under the command of Paul Friedrich August Hegemann and having a crew of 13 men.The crew included two medical doctors, who were also capable naturalists – "Adolf Pansch" on "Germania" and "Reinhold Wilhelm Buchholz" on "Hansa" – the astronomers and geophysicists Karl Nikolai Jensen Börgen and Ralph Copeland, the Austrian cartographer Julius von Payer and the Austrian geologist Gustav Carl Laube.

The expedition left Bremerhaven on June 15, 1869 and headed North. After one month dense pack ice was encountered at approximately 75.5°N. The two ships got separated by mistake.

Germania

"Germania" made it through the pack ice thanks to its auxiliary engine and, during late summer, explored the region around Sabine Island, Little Pendulum Island and Shannon. On September 13 1869, it was anchored near the south coast of Sabine Island for wintering. During autumn and the following spring, sledge trips were made Clavering Island and Tyrolerfjord to the South West and as far North as Store Koldewey Island and Germania Land. In late July 1870, "Germania" was able to raise anchor and continue North, however only to find the way blocked by pack ice. After eight days, it was decided to head South instead, and extensive exploration of the vast fjord systems of North-East Greenland, most notably the Kejser Franz Joseph Fjord, was undertaken. "Germania" managed to get through the pack ice, but the engine broke, and returned to Bremerhaven, most of the way by sail, on September 11 1870.

Hansa

After several unsuccessful attempts to pass through, "Hansa" was inescaplably stuck in the pack ice by mid-Semtember 1869. During the next month, the ship was slowly milled by the ice and finally sank on October 22 at a position 70°32’N, 21°W approximately 10 km from the East Greenland coast. The crew managed to survive the winter in a shelter built of coal dust briquettes, while drifting on the sea ice southward along the eastern coast of Greenland. In June 1870, the crew got to the coast by boat and reached the Moravian "Herrnhut" mission at Narsaq Kujalleq (then Frederiksdal/Friedrichsthal) near Cape Farewell, from where they got back to Germany on a Danish ship.

Botanical collections

Doctor "Adolf Pansch" made quite extensive botanical collections during the Second German North Polar Expedition. The vascular plants collected were later treated by the botanists Franz Georg Philipp Buchenau and Wilhelm Olbers Focke, both from the University of Bremen. [Pringle, J. S., 1995. The history of the exploration of the vascular flora of Greenland. Canadian Field-Naturalist, 109: 362-377.]

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