Fritz Heim collection

The collection comprises of correspondence with fellow Antarctic explorer William Speirs Bruce (leader of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1902-1904) relating to the German South Polar Expedition, 1911-1912 (leader Wilhelm Filchner).

Fritz Heim joined the German South Polar Expedition, 1911-1912 (leader Wilhelm Filchner), as geologist. Filchner planned to attempt the first crossing of Antarctica. With a strong scientific team on board, the expedition ship Deutschland left Bremerhaven on 11 May 1911, arriving in South Georgia in October and making a brief visit to the South Sandwich Islands. Heading south towards the Weddell Sea in December, the ship sailed southward off Coats Land and in January 1912, Filchner saw land, which he named Prinzregent Luitpold Land [Luitpold Coast]. Continuing westward, they discovered the Filchner Ice Shelf where an unsuccessful attempt was made to establish a station. Deutschland was beset and drifted in pack ice for nine months until freed in November 1912. Returning to South Georgia in December, the expedition headed back to Germany.

The correspondence is arranged chronologically.

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Descriptions compiled by N. Boneham, Assistant Archivist with assistance from R. Stancombe and reference to SPRI Library Antarctic Biographies Card Index and Encyclopaedia of Antarctica and the Southern Oceans ed. Bernard Stonehouse, John Wiley & Sons Chichester, (2002) ISBN 0471986658 SPRI Library (7) and Robert Keith Headland Antarctic Chronology, unpublished corrected revision of Chronological list of Antarctic expeditions and related historical events, (1 December 2001) Cambridge University Press (1989) ISBN 0521309034

Clive Holland Manuscripts in the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, England - a catalogue, Garland Publishing New York and London (1982) ISBN 0824093941.

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