Difference between revisions of "New Swabia"

On 19 January 1939 the ship arrived at the Princess Martha Coast, in an area which had lately been claimed by Norway as [[Queen Maud Land]] and began charting the region. Nazi flags were placed on the sea ice along the coast. Naming the area ''Neu-Schwabenland'' after the ship, the expedition established a temporary base and in the following weeks teams walked along the coast recording claim reservations on hills and other significant landmarks. Seven photographic survey flights were made by the ship’s two Dornier Wal seaplanes named Passat and Boreas.

On 19 January 1939 the ship arrived at the Princess Martha Coast, in an area which had lately been claimed by Norway as [[Queen Maud Land]] and began charting the region. Nazi flags were placed on the sea ice along the coast. Naming the area ''Neu-Schwabenland'' after the ship, the expedition established a temporary base and in the following weeks teams walked along the coast recording claim reservations on hills and other significant landmarks. Seven photographic survey flights were made by the ship’s two Dornier Wal seaplanes named Passat and Boreas.

About a dozen 1.2 meter-long aluminum arrows, with 30 centimeter steel cones and three upper stabilizer wings embossed with swastikas, were air dropped onto the ice at turning points of the flight polygons (these arrows had been tested on the Pasterze glacier in Austria before the expedition). Eight more flights were made to areas of keen interest and on these trips some of the photos were taken with color film. 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-free Schirmacher Oasis, which now hosts the Maitri and Novolazarevskaya research stations, was spotted from the air by Richardheinrich Schirmacher (who named it after himself) shortly before the ''Schwabenland'' left the Antarctic coast on 6 February 1939.

About a dozen 1.2 meter-long aluminum arrows, with 30 centimeter steel cones and three upper stabilizer wings embossed with swastikas, were air dropped onto the ice at turning points of the flight polygons (these arrows had been tested on the Pasterze glacier in Austria before the expedition). Eight more flights were made to areas of keen interest and on these trips some of the photos were taken with color film. 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-free Schirmacher Oasis, which now hosts the Maitri and Novolazarevskaya research stations, was spotted from the air by Richardheinrich Schirmacher (who named it after himself) shortly before the ''Schwabenland'' left the Antarctic coast on 6 February 1939.

[[File:Snow-Vehicle.jpg|400px|thumb|German snow vehicle in use in Antarctica]]

[[File:Snow-Vehicle.jpg|400px|thumb|German snow vehicle in use in Antarctica]]

Germany's current Neumayer-Station III is also in the region. New Swabia is a cartographic area of [[Queen Maud Land]] which within Norway is administered as a Norwegian dependent territory under the [[Antarctic Treaty]] System by the Polar Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice and the Police.

Germany's current Neumayer-Station III is also in the region. New Swabia is a cartographic area of [[Queen Maud Land]] which within Norway is administered as a Norwegian dependent territory under the [[Antarctic Treaty]] System by the Polar Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice and the Police.

[[Category:Geography of Antarctica]]

[[Category:Geography of Antarctica]]

[[Category:Antarctica]]

[[Category:Antarctica]]