| New Swabia Neuschwabenland | |
|---|---|
| Defunct potential Antarctic claim ofNazi Germany | |
 Expedition logo (1938–39) | |
 Territory comprising New Swabia shown in red | |
| Historical era | World War II |
| 19 January 1939 | |
| 9 April 1940 | |
| 8 May 1945 | |
| Today part of |  Queen Maud Land |
New Swabia (Norwegian andGerman:Neuschwabenland) was an area ofAntarctica explored, with the intention to claim it, byNazi Germany between 1938 and 1939, within the Norwegian territorial claim ofQueen Maud Land. The region was named after the expedition's ship,Schwabenland, itself named after theGerman region ofSwabia.[1][2] Although the name "New Swabia" is occasionally mentioned in historical contexts, it is not an officially recognized cartographic name in modern use. The area is now part of Queen Maud Land, governed under theAntarctic Treaty System.
New Swabia is divided into an ice-covered northern foreland, which gradually rises from the coast and the edge of the ice shelf to over 1,000 m (Ritscher Upland andHelle Slope). To the south, it is followed by a region of nunataks rising from the ice and mountain ranges with heights over 3,000 m. These mountain ranges dam up the glaciers of the polar plateau to over 2,000 m. The high-altitude glacial regions are named after the famous polar explorersRoald Amundsen andAlfred Wegener.
The ice-free areas vary greatly in morphology. In addition to kilometers of fault scarps that run roughly parallel to the continental margin and are particularly prevalent in the west, central and east, New Swabia is dominated by mountain ranges in the north-south that follow old, preglacial valley systems. Three mighty glaciers drain this sector of East Antarctica: At 20°W, theStancomb-Wills Glacier flows westward onto theBrunt Ice Shelf. The boundary between western and central New Swabia is marked by theJutulstraumen Glacier, which feeds theFimbul Ice Shelf. The 200 km wide glacierBorchgrevinkisen forms the eastern border of New Swabia.
At the eastern end of New Swabia lies the deep-sea trench Schwabenland Canyon.
A geographical feature of New Swabia is its ice-free freshwater lakes during the Antarctic summer. These lakes are located on the 34 km² hilly plateau, theSchirmacher Oasis (or Schirmacher Lake Plateau), at70° 45′ S, 11° 40′ E. 118 lakes with a total area of 6,487 km² are known. Only a portion of these lakes develop on the bedrock; some lakes also lie on the ice shelf immediately north of the oasis. All lakes contain a rich algal flora, with 72 species identified. The discoverer of the Schirmacher Oasis was Richardheinrich Schirmacher, pilot of the second flying boat, the Boreas, of the expedition ship Schwabenland.
TheObersee andUntersee lie on the northern edge of theGruber Mountains at 795 m and 580 m above sea level, respectively. The Obersee covers an area of 3.43 km², while the Untersee is 11.4 km², making them the largest lakes in New Swabia. They are covered in ice year-round and fill deep, carved-out trough valleys. The lakes are dammed by glaciers and have no outflow.
New Swabia has a highpolar climate with temperatures below freezing around the year. The low air temperatures are partially set off by strong solar radiation in the Antarctic summer (December to February). Temperatures of up to +19°C have been measured on rock surfaces, allowing simple vegetation to grow on these rocky substrates.[3] The necessary water is created by melting, drifting snow on rock surfaces exposed to the sun. In the central area of New Swabia, simple filamentous algae (Prasiola andUlothrix) andlichens have been found alongsidecyanobacteria. The speciesLecidea sp.,Rhizocarpon geographicum andUsnea sphacelata are particularly common. Two moss species (Grimmia lawiana andSarconeurum glaciale) have also been found in favorable locations.
Like many other countries,Germany sent expeditions to the Antarctic region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most of which were scientific. The late 19th century expeditions to theSouthern Ocean,South Georgia, theKerguelen Islands, and theCrozet Islands were astronomical, meteorological, and hydrological, mostly in close collaboration with scientific teams from other countries. As the 19th century ended, Germany began to focus on Antarctica.[citation needed]
The first German expedition to Antarctica was theGauss expedition from 1901 to 1903. Led by Arctic veteran and geology professorErich von Drygalski, this was the second expedition to use ahot-air balloon in Antarctica. It also found and namedKaiser Wilhelm II Land. The second German Antarctic expedition (1911–1912) was led byWilhelm Filchner with a goal of crossing Antarctica to learn if it was one piece of land. As happened with other such early attempts, the crossing failed before it even began. The expedition discovered and named theLuitpold Coast and theFilchner Ice Shelf. A Germanwhaling fleet was put to sea in 1937 and, upon its successful return in early 1938, plans for a third German Antarctic expedition were drawn up.[4]
The thirdGerman Antarctic Expedition (1938–1939) was led by arctic veteranAlfred Ritscher (1879–1963), a captain in theGerman Navy. The main purpose was to find an area in Antarctica for a German whaling station, as a way to increase Germany's production of fat.Whale oil was then the most important raw material for the production ofmargarine andsoap in Germany and the country was the second largest purchaser of Norwegian whale oil, importing some 200,000 metric tonnes annually. Besides the disadvantage of being dependent onimports, it was thought that Germany would soon be at war, which was considered to put too much strain on Germany'sforeign currency reserves. In addition, there was a secret military assignment to explore the islands ofTrindade and Martim Vaz for use as potential future naval bases.[5][6][7]
On 17 December 1938, the secret[7] New Swabia Expedition with 82 crew members left Hamburg for Antarctica aboardMSSchwabenland (a freighter built in 1925 and renamed in 1934 after theSwabia region in southern Germany) which could also carry andcatapult aircraft. On 19 January 1939, the ship arrived at thePrincess Martha Coast, in an area which had been claimed, as the expedition was already underway, byNorway asQueen Maud Land, and began charting the region. Naming the areaNeu-Schwabenland after the ship, meanwhile the ship served as expedition base. Seven photographic survey flights were made by the ship's twoDornier Walseaplanes namedPassat andBoreas.[1][8] About a dozen 1.2-meter (3.9 ft)-long aluminum darts, with 30-centimeter (12 in) steel cones and three upper stabilizer wings embossed with swastikas, were supposed to be airdropped onto the ice at turning points of the flight polygons (these darts had been tested on thePasterze glacier in Austria before the expedition).[1][8] According to expedition members, these darts were only dropped once, all together.[9] Eight more flights were made to areas of keen interest, and on these trips some of the photos were taken with colour film by the geologist Ernst Herrmann. Altogether they flew over hundreds of thousands of square kilometers and took more than 16,000 aerial photographs, some of which were published after the war by Ritscher. The ice-freeSchirmacher Oasis, which now hosts theMaitri andNovolazarevskaya research stations, was spotted from the air by Richard Heinrich Schirmacher (who named it after himself) shortly beforeSchwabenland left the Antarctic coast on 6 February 1939.[10]
On its return trip to Germany, the expedition made oceanographic studies nearBouvet Island andFernando de Noronha, arriving back in Hamburg on 11 April 1939. Meanwhile, the Norwegian government had learned about the expedition through the director of theNSIU, Adolf Hoel, who heard of the news by chance, from Ernst Hermann's wife.[citation needed][11][12][13] Furthermore the Norwegian government had received reports from whalers along the coast of Queen Maud Land.
Germany never advanced any territorial claims to the region.[14]
Because the area was first explored by a German expedition, the nameNeuschwabenland (New Swabia) is still used for the region on some maps, as are many of the German names given to its geographic features.[15] Some geographic features mapped by the expedition were not named until theNorwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition (NBSAE) (1949–1952), led byJohn Schjelderup Giæver. Others were not named until they were remapped from aerial photographs taken by theNorwegian Antarctic Expedition (1958–1959).[16]
The exact location of objects in italics could not yet be determined because the position was given too imprecisely in the expedition report due to navigation problems with the aircraft, and most of the aerial photographs that would have allowed identification were lost duringWorld War II. The names of objects that could be clearly located were used in the Norwegian translation of the topographical mapDronning Maud Land 1:250,000 published by theNorwegian Polar Institute in 1966.
| Name | Name on the Norwegian Map | Position(Informationen in the "Bundesanzeiger") | Named after / Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander-von-Humboldt-Mountains | Humboldtfjella | 71° 24′–72° S, 11°–12° O | Alexander von Humboldt |
| Humboldt Basin | Humboldtsøkket | Near the eastern border of the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Mountains | Alexander von Humboldt |
| Altar | Altaret | 71° 36′ S, 11° 18′ O | distinctive mountain shape |
| Amelang Plateau | Ladfjella | 74° S, 6° 12′–6° 30′ W | Herbert Amelang, 1. Officer of the "Schwabenland“ |
| Am Überlauf (At the Overflow) | Grautrenna | Easterly to the Eckhörner (Corner Horns) | glaciated pass |
| Barkley Mountains | Barkleyfjella | 72° 48′ S, 1° 30′–0° 48′ O | Erich Barkley (1912–1944), biologist |
| Bastion | Bastionen | 71° 18′ S, 13° 36′ O | |
| Bludau Mountains | Hallgrenskarvet und Heksegryta | Part Iof a 150 km mountain range 72° 42′ S, 3° 30′ W und 74° S, 5° W | Josef Bludau (1889–1967), ships surgeon |
| Mount Bolle | 72° 18′ S, 6° 30′ O | Herbert Bolle,Deutsche Lufthansa, foreman of the aircraft assemblers | |
| Boreas | Boreas | Dornier Wal D-AGAT „Boreas“ | |
| Brandt Mountain | 72° 13′ S, 1° 0′ O | Emil Brandt (* 1900), Sailor, saved an expedition member from drowning | |
| Mount Bruns | 72° 05′ S, 1° 0′ O | Herbert Bruns (* 1908), electrical engineer of the expedition ship | |
| Buddenbrock Range | 71° 42′ S, 6° O | Friedrich Freiherr von Buddenbrock, Operations Manager of Atlantic Flights at Deutsche Lufthansa | |
| Bundermann Range | Grytøyrfjellet | 71° 48′–72° S, 3° 24′ O | Max Bundermann (* 1904), aerial photographer |
| Conrad Mountains | Conradfjella | 71° 42′–72° 18′ S, 10° 30′ O | Fritz Conrad |
| Dallmann Mountains | Dallmannfjellet | 71° 42′–72° S, closely west 11° O | Eduard Dallmann |
| Drygalski Mountains | Drygalskifjella | 71° 6′–71° 48′ S, 7° 6′–9° 30′ O[17] | Erich von Drygalski |
| Eckhörner (Corner Horns) | Hjørnehorna | North end of the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Gebirges | markante Bergform |
| Filchner Mountains | Filchnerfjella | 71° 6′–71° 48′ S, 7° 6′–9° 30′ O[17] | Wilhelm Filchner |
| Gablenz-Ridge | 72°–72° 18′ S, 5° O | Carl August von Gablenz | |
| Gburek Peaks | Gburektoppane | 72° 42′ S, 0° 48′–1° 10′ W | Leo Gburek (1910–1941), geomagnetist |
| Geßner Peak | Gessnertind | 71° 54′ S, 6° 54′ O | Wilhelm Geßner (1890–1945), Director of Hansa Luftbild |
| Gneiskopf Peak | Gneisskolten | 71° 54′ S, 12° 12′ O | prominent peak |
| Gockel-Ridge | Vorrkulten | 73° 12′ S, 0° 12′ W | Wilhelm Gockel, meteorologist of the expedition |
| Graue Hörner (Grey Horns) | Gråhorna | Southern corner of the Petermann mountain range | |
| Gruber Mountains | Slokstallen undPetrellfjellet | 72° S, 4° O | Erich Gruber (1912–1940), radio operator on D-AGAT „Boreas“ |
| Habermehl Peak | Habermehltoppen | Westernly to the Geßnerpeak | Richard Habermehl, head of the Reich Weather Service |
| Mount Hädrich | 71° 57′ S, 6° 12′ O | Willy Hädrich, Authorized officer at Deutsche Lufthansa, responsible for the accounting of the expedition | |
| Mount Hedden | 72° 8′ S, 1° 10′ O | Karl Hedden, Sailor, saved an expedition member from drowning | |
| Herrmann Mountains | 73° S, 0°–1° O | Ernst Herrmann, geologist of the expedition | |
| In der Schüssel (In the Bowl) | Grautfatet | in the North of the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Gebirges | glaciated valley |
| Johannes Müller Ridge | Müllerkammen | Johannes Müller († 1941), Participant in the 2nd German South Polar Expedition in 1911/12, Head of the Nautical Department of the North German Lloyd | |
| Kaye Peak | Langfloget | 72° 30′ S, 4° 48′ O | Georg Kaye, Naval architect, looked after the ships of Lufthansa |
| Kleinschmidt Peak | Enden | Part of a 150 km long ridge between 72°42′ S, 3°30′ W and 74° S, 5° W | Ernst Kleinschmidt, German Maritime Observatory |
| Kottas Mountains | Milorgfjella | 74° 6′–74° 18′ S, 8° 12′–9° W | Alfred Kottas, Captain of the "Schwabenland" |
| Kraul Mountains | Vestfjella | Otto Kraul, ice pilot | |
| Krüger Mountains | Kvitskarvet | 73° 6′ S, 1° 18′ O | Walter Krüger, meteorologist of the expedition |
| Kubus | Kubus | 72° 24′ S, 7° 30′ O | distinctive mountain shape |
| Kurze Mountain Range | Kurzefjella | 72° 6′–72° 30′ S, 9° 30′–10° O | Friedrich Kurze,Vice Admiral, Head of the Nautical Department of the Naval High Command |
| Lange-Plateau | 71° 58′ S, 0° 25′ O | Heinz Lange (1908–1943), meteorlogical assistant | |
| Loesener Plateau | Skorvetangen,Hamarskorvene undKvithamaren | 72° S, 4° 18′ O | Kurt Loesener, airplane mechanic of D-AGAT „Boreas“ |
| Lose Plateau | Lausflæet | distinctive mountain shape | |
| Luz Ridge | 72°–72° 18′ S, 5° 30′ O | Martin Luz, commercial director at the German Lufthansa | |
| Mayr Mountain Range | Jutulsessen | 72°–72° 18′ S, 3° 24′ O | Rudolf Mayr, Pilot of D-ALOX „Passat“ |
| Matterhorn | Ulvetanna | highest peak in den Drygalski-Mountains | distinctive mountain shape |
| Mentzel Mountains | Mentzelfjellet | 71° 18′ S, 13° 42′ O | Rudolf Mentzel |
| Mühlig-Hofmann Mountains | Mühlig-Hofmannfjella | 71° 48′–72° 36′ S, 3° O | Albert Mühlig-Hofmann |
| Neumayer steep face | Neumayerskarvet | Georg von Neumayer | |
| New Swabia | Expeditionship „Schwabenland“ | ||
| Northwestern Island | Nordvestøya | Northend of the Alexander-von-Humboldt-Gebirges | island-like nunatak group |
| Eastern Hochfeld | Austre Høgskeidet | between the southern and central sections of the Petermann range | Ice tongue |
| Obersee (Upper Lake) | Øvresjøen | 71° 12′ S, 13° 42′ O | frozen lake |
| Passat | Passat | Donier Wal D-ALOX | |
| Paulsen Mountains | Brattskarvet,Vendeholten undVendehø | 72° 24′ S, 1° 30′ O | Karl-Heinz Paulsen, oceanographer of the expedition |
| Payer Mountain group | Payerfjella | 72° 0′ S, 14° 42′ O | Julius von Payer |
| Penck Trough | Pencksøkket | Albrecht Penck | |
| Petermann Range | Petermannkjeda | Between the Alexander-Humboldt-Mountains and the „zentralen Wohlthatmassiv“ [=Otto-von-Gruber-Mountains] on 71°18′–72°9′ S | August Petermann |
| Preuschoff Ridge | Hochlinfjellet | 72° 18′–72° 30′ S, 4° 30′ O | Franz Preuschoff, airplane Mechanic of D-ALOX „Passat“ |
| Regula Mountain Range | Regulakjeda | Herbert Regula (1910–1980), I. Meteorologist of the expedition | |
| Ritscherpeak | Ritschertind | 71° 24′ S, 13° 24′ O | Alfred Ritscher |
| Ritscher Upland | Ritscherflya | Alfred Ritscher | |
| Mount Röbke | Isbrynet | Karl-Heinz Röbke (* 1909), II. Officer on the „Schwabenland“ | |
| Mount Ruhnke | Festninga | 72° 30′ S, 4° O | Herbert Ruhnke (1904–1944), Radio operator on D-ALOX „Passat“ |
| Sauter Mountain bar | Terningskarvet | 72° 36′ S, 3° 18′ O | Siegfried Sauter, aerial photographer |
| Schirmacher Ponds[18] | Schirmacher Oasis | 70° 40′ S, 11° 40′ O | Richardheinrich Schirmacher, Pilot of D-AGAT „Boreas“ |
| Schneider-Riegel | 73° 42′ S, 3° 18′ W | Hans Schneider, Head of the Sea-Flight Department of the German Maritime Observatory and Professor of Meteorology | |
| Schubertpeak | Høgfonna undOvbratten | Part of a 150 km long ridge between 72°42′ S, 3°30′ W und 74° S, 5° W | Otto von Schubert, Head of the Nautical Department of the German Maritime Observatory |
| Schulz Heights | Lagfjella | 73° 42′ S, 7° 36′ W | Robert Schulz, II. Engineer on the „Schwabenland“ |
| Schicht Mountains | Sjiktberga | 71° 24′ S, 13° 12′ O | |
| Schwarze Hörner (Black horns) | Svarthorna | southern corner of the northern part of the Petermann range | distinctive mountain range |
| See Kopf (Sea-Head) | Sjøhausen | 71° 12′ S, 13° 48′ O | distinctive mountain |
| Seilkopf Mountains | Nälegga | Part of a 150 km long ridge between 72°42′ S, 3°30′ W and° S, 5° W | Heinrich Seilkopf, Head of the Sea-Flight Department of the German Maritime Observatory and Professor of Meteorology |
| Sphinxkopf Peak | Sfinksskolten | On the north end of the Petermann range | distinctive mountain |
| Spieß Peak | Huldreslottet | Part of a 150 km long ridge between. 72°42′ S, 3°30′ W and 74° S, 5° W | AdmiralFritz Spieß, commander of the research vesselMeteor |
| Stein Peaks | Straumsnutane | Willy Stein, Boatswain of the „Schwabenland“ | |
| Todt Mountain bar | Todtskota | 71° 18′ S, 14° 18′ O | Herbert Todt, Assistent of the expeditionleader |
| Uhligpeak | Uhligberga | Part of a 150 km long ridge between72°42′ S, 3°30′ W and 74° S, 5° W | Karl Uhlig, Leading Engineer of the „Schwabenland“ |
| Lake Untersee | Nedresjøen | 71° 18′ S, 13° 30′ O | frozen lake |
| Vorposten Peak | Forposten | 71° 24′ S, 15° 48′ O | remote nunatak |
| Western Hochfeld | Vestre Høgskeidet | glaciated plain | |
| Weyprecht Mountains | Weyprechtfjella | 72° 0′ S, 13° 30′ O | Carl Weyprecht |
| Wegener Inland Ice | Wegenerisen | Alfred Wegener | |
| Wittepeaks | Marsteinen, Valken, Krylen und Knotten | Dietrich Witte, engine attendant of the "Schwabenland“ | |
| Wohlthat Mountain Range | Wohlthatmassivet | Helmuth Wohlthat | |
| Mount Zimmermann | Zimmermannfjellet | 71° 18′ S, 13° 24′ O | Carl Zimmermann, Vice President of the German Research Foundation |
| Zuckerhut (sugar loaf) | Sukkertoppen | 71° 24′ S, 13° 30′ O | distinctive mountain shape |
| Zwiesel Mountain | Zwieselhøgda | On the southern ends of the Petermann range |
Germany made no formal territorial claims to New Swabia.[19] No whaling station or other lasting bases were built there by Germany, and no permanent presence was established until theGeorg von Neumayer Station, a research facility, was opened in 1981. Germany's currentNeumayer Station III is also located in the region.
Although New Swabia is occasionally mentioned in historical contexts, it is not an officially recognized cartographic designation today. The region is part ofQueen Maud Land, administered by Norway as adependent territory under theAntarctic Treaty System, and overseen by the Polar Affairs Department of theMinistry of Justice and the Police.[20]
Neuschwabenland has been the subject of conspiracy theories for decades, some of them related toNazi UFO claims. Most assert that, in the wake of the German expedition of 1938–39, a huge military base was built there. After the war, high-ranking Nazis, scientists, and elite military units are claimed to have survived there. The US and UK have supposedly been trying to conquer the area for decades, and to have used nuclear weapons in this effort. Proponents claim the base is sustained by hot springs providing energy and warmth.[21]
TheWDR radio playNeuschwabenland-Symphonie from 2012 takes up the conspiracy theories.[22]
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