Niels Peter Høeg Hagen (15 October 1877 – 15 November 1907[1]) was a Danish military officer, polar explorer andcartographer. He participated and perished in the ill-fatedDenmark expedition to NE Greenland in 1906.[2]
Høeg Hagen, together with expedition leaderLudvig Mylius-Erichsen and the GreenlanderJørgen Brønlund, was part of the team ofdogsleds that aimed to explore theIndependence Fjord area from the east. Misled byexisting maps, the three men prolonged their journey to such an extent that a return to the ship atDanmarkshavn that spring was impossible.
The three of them were forced to spend the summer in the desolate area without the necessary footgear for hunting in the stony ground. The need for food for men and dogs forced them to reduce their three dogteams to one. Finally in September they were able to start their return journey on the new frozen sea ice along the coast, but when they arrived at the southern shore ofMallemuk Mountain, they found open water and were forced to travel inland. Hagen perished of starvation, exhaustion, and cold while walking on the ice in theNioghalvfjerdsbrae area, followed by Mylius-Erichsen a few days later.
The last to die was Brønlund, his body, together with his diary and Hagen's cartographic sketches were found next spring byJohan Peter Koch inLambert Land. Some cairn reports, left atDanmark Fjord by Mylius-Erichsen, were found and brought toCopenhagen byEjnar Mikkelsen in 1912.[3]
Hagen Fjord, a southern branch of Independence Fjord, as well asHagen Glacier, were named in his honour.
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