The <i>Helgoland</i> Expedition to Svalbard: Die Deutsche Expedition in das Nördliche Eismeer, 1889

Abstract

In the summer of 1898 the trawler Helgoland sailed north from Germany, bound for Svalbard. On board was a scientific expedition, the Deutsche Expedition in das Nordliche Eismeer, led by Fritz Romer and Fritz Schaudinn, and also a party of sportsmen led by Theodor Lerner. The main foci of the scientific effort were marine biology and ornithology. Pushing the ship to its limit, often in quite heavy ice and foul weather, the expedition pursued a complicated course around the archipelago. In terms of marine biology her scientists occupied 51 dredging stations and 82 plankton stations and collected an extremely rich assemblage of marine organisms. Perhaps the most exciting were a group of stations occupied on the continental slope to the north of Svalbard. Helgoland's captain, Kapitan Rudiger, made a number of corrections and additions to the map of Svalbard; his most significant contribution was the first accurate map of Kong Karls Land. Helgoland was also the first vessel to circumnavigate Nordaustlandet in a counterclockwise direction.

Key words: Helgoland expedition, Svalbard, Kong Karls Land, marine biology, ornithology