Johannes Mller collection

The collection comprises of material relating to the German South Polar Expedition, 1911-1912 (leader Wilhelm Filchner).

Johannes Mller joined the German South Polar Expedition, 1911-1912 (leader Wilhelm Filchner), as watch officer and navigation officer on board Deutschland. Filchner planned to attempt the first crossing of Antarctica. With a strong scientific team on board, 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 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. Mller committed suicide some time after returning to Germany.

The collection is arranged chronologically.

By appointment.

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Anyone wishing to consult material should ensure they note the entire MS reference and the name of the originator.

The term holograph is used when the item is wholly in the handwriting of the author. The term autograph is used when the author has signed the item.

Descriptions compiled by N. Boneham, Assistant Archivist with assistance from R. Stancombe and reference to To the sixth continent. The second German South Polar Expedition, 1911-1913 by Wilhelm Filchner translated by William Barr, Bluntisham Books, Huntingdon (1994) SPRI Library Shelf (7)91(08)[1911-1912 Filchner] and Robert Keith Headland Antarctic Chronology, unpublished corrected revision of Chronological list of Antarctic expeditions and related historical events, (1 December 2001) Cambridge University Press (1989) ISBN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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Further accessions possible.