Mller, German South Polar Expedition

• MS 1465;D Blue-print of a map of South Georgia drawn in 1911 [Found in the Manager's villa of the abandoned whaling station at Grytviken in 1979] 1 sheet

The German South Polar expedition, 1911-1912 (leader Wilhelm Filchner) stopped at Buenos Aries before proceeding south to Antarctic waters. Exploring South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands in 1911 the expedition ship Deutschland then sailed south to the Weddell Sea. The south coast was charted and the Filchner Ice Shelf discovered. Deutschland was beset and attempts to create a permanent base on the Ice Shelf proved unsuccessful. Plans for crossing Antarctica were abandoned but a comprehensive scientific programme was undertaken.

Chronological

. Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton used part of another blueprint of the same map when he trekked across South Georgia from King Haakon Bay to Stromness Bay in May 1916 (Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1916, Weddell Sea Party). It is probable that this blueprint is contemporary with the copy Shackleton used and that both were made at the Grytviken drawing office.

The Scott Polar Research Institute holds a number of photographs, film and other illustrative material in the Picture Library, some of which covers this expedition. The catalogue can be searched on line by going to the Picture Library Database and selecting the Enter Polar Pictures link.

For additional collections containing information on the German South Polar Expedition, 1911-1912 (leader Wilhelm Filchner) see SPRI collections GB 015 Wilhelm Filchner, GB 015 Robert Mossman, GB 015 Fritz Heim and GB 015 Albrecht Penck.