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Wilhelm Filchner was born on 13 September 1877.[1] Sources place his birth variously at Munich[2] or Bayreuth;[3] a possible explanation is that the family moved from Munich to Bayreuth shortly after Wilhelm's birth, but returned to Munich after his father's early death.[1] As a boy, Wilhelm showed considerable artistic and musical talent, drawing inspiration from, amongst others, Franz von Lenbach, Franz Stuck, and Siegfried Wagner.[4] He might have made his life in the arts,[5] but family traditions drew him towards a military career, and at the age of 15 he was enrolled in the Prussian Military Academy.[6]
As a young officer in 1898, Filchner was given leave from the army to undertake a seven-week journey in Russia[7], but had to leave that country when he was suspected of acting as a spy.[8] Two years later he made an expedition to the Pamir Mountains, including a famous horse-back ride;[9] he was gaining an early reputation as a daring traveller,[10] and his exploits became the subject of a best-selling book, Ein Ritt über dem Pamir ("A Ride over the Pamirs").[5]
Filcher's emergent surveying skills led the army to help him develop his knowledge of geography and geophysics through courses at the Technical University of Munich and other institutions.[2] In the course of these studies between 1900 and 1903, he formed contacts with some of the leading travelling scientists of the day, including the Swede Sven Hedin, and Ferdinand von Richthofen from the University of Berlin.[11] In 1903, with von Richthofen's recommendation, he was given leave from the army to take on the leadership of a major scientific survey in Tibet and western China, extending to the upper reaches of the Hwang Ho river and covering both mapping and magnetic measurements. This was not a staightforward enterprise; it was necessary on occasion for Filchner to conceal his activities, by assuming the disguise of a Muslim priest.[12]
Another complicating factor on this journey was Filchner's poor relations with his scientist colleague, the geographer Albert Tafel. Part of the difficulty, as Cornelia Lüdecke explains in her biographical essay, is that as a military officer Filchner was "trained to command and not to discuss".[2] This was a trait that would also affect Filchner's later expeditions.[13] Whatever the basis of the hostility between Filchner and Tafel, it led to a prolonged enmity, Tafel regularly attempting to undermine Filchner's abilities and authority as a leader.[14]
Germany's interest in Antarctic exploration had manifested itself in 1901–03, with Erich von Drygalski's expedition in the Gauss. Although successful in terms of scientific findings, Drygalski's expedition had not been deemed a success because of its relative lack of geographical achievements.[15] As the decade developed, further expeditions had advanced both geographical and scientific knowledge of the Antarctic continent, but large questions remained. The main geographical character of the continent was largely unknown; whether it was a single, unified landmass with the Pole at its centre, or several large separated entities, such as a group of islands.[16]
This question was of great concern to, among others, Albrecht Penck, professor of geography at the University of Berlin. Penck's hypothesis was for two large landmasses, East and West Antarctica, separated by a strait that connected the Weddell and Ross Seas. An exploration of the deep interior, perhaps including the location of the Geographic South Pole itself, would help prove or disprove Penck's theory; such a project had immediate appeal to Filchner, who determined to put it to the test with a new Antarctic expedition.[16]
As envisaged by Filchner, such an expedition would not confine itself to geographical discovery, but would sustain a full programme of scientific observation, with a particular emphasis on oceanography; the relations between the various oceans on the world, and their effect on climate. Filchner's plans received the backing of the Berlin Geographical Society, and were made public in March 1910.[17]
There were difficulties. First, the Kaiser was uninterested in Filchner's proposals for an expedition, which meant there would be no funding provided by the German state.[18] Another patron was required, and was found in the person of Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria. Filchner's original strategy had anticipated two ships, with shore parties advancing inland respectively from Weddell and Ross Sea bases, making their rendezvous in the vicinity of the Pole. A national fundraising committee was set up, but the cost of this initial plan was too high; Filchner was forced to adopt a lower-cost, single-ship alternative plan, operating from a base established in the Weddell Sea sector.[19]
An appropriate ship, the Norwegian whaler Bjorn was acquired, and her name changed to Deutschland,[10] but the question of who should captain her was problematic. Filchner wanted to retain the Norwegian captain, but the German authorities insisted the post went to a German. The man selected was Richard Vahsel, who had been second officer on Drygalski's Gauss,[20] but was, according to his former captain, a difficult and truculent character, "greedy for power and an out-and-out schemer".[21] To compound this problem, Filchner unwittingly agreed to sail under the German naval flag, placing Deutschland under naval regulations that gave the captain supreme decision-making authority on the ship.[22] This created a situation of divided command, with serious consequences for Filchner's authority on the expedition.[23]
Deutschland sailed from Bremerhaven in early May 1911 on the first stage of the expedition.[21] This involved a comprehensive oceanographic study of the Atlantic Ocean, covering more than 10,000 nautical miles (12,000 mi; 19,000 km) and extending over four months. Around 100 studies were carried out, special attention being given to the area where the warm and the cold currents of the South Atlantic merged.[24] Filcher did not participate in this stage; he remained in Germany, dealing with expedition business before joining the ship in Buenos Aires early in September.[25] Discords among the Deutschland personnel had arisen from the outset; throughout the voyage, Heinrich Seelheim, Filchner's deputy, had argued incessantly with Vahsel, and on arriving in Buenos Aires had resigned from the expedition.[26] Despite such troubles, the scientific work had proceeded well, and represented a significant contribution to oceanographic and Antarctic science.[27]
After a month in Buenos Aires, the expedition departed for South Georgia, arriving at Grytviken whaling station late in October.[28] While the ship was restocked with fuel and provisions, Filchner led a comprehensive survey of the island's coasts, which included the temporary reopening of a German magnetic and meteorological station set up some thirty years previously, during the 1882–83 International Polar Year.[29] While in South Georgia, Filchner lost two more expedition members, one through appendicitis and another who drowned during the course of a fishing trip.[30] By 11 December 1911, reprovisioning was complete, and the heavily-laden Deutschland set of on its southern journey to the Weddell Sea.[31]
The ship encountered its first ice three days' out from South Georgia, and progress southwards was slow and uncertain.[32] Brief periods of clear water were interspersed with spells of thick ice that impeded and sometimes prevented travel; in the fortnight between 17 and 31 December, only 31 nautical miles (36 mi; 57 km) were covered.[33] Better days followed, and by 29 January Deutschland, now in a stretch of open water, had passed James Weddell's most southerly mark, set in 1823. Signs that land was nearing were evident from seabed samples, and on 30th January an ice-covered coast appeared to the east. Filcher named this "Prinzregent Luitpold Land" (or "Luitpold Coast"), after the expedition's principal patron.[34]
Following the line of the coast, on 31 January, at 77°48'S, Deutschland reached a vast ice barrier, which marked the southernmost extent of the Weddell Sea. Filcher named this after the Kaiser,[35] who would later insist that it be named after Filchner.[36] At the junction of the land and the ice barrier was a small inlet, which Filchner thought might provide the opportunity to make a landing. He christened this spot Vahsel Bay.[37]
At this point there occurred a major division between Filchner and the captain. Vahsel was reluctant to effect a landing, choosing to argue that by surpassing Weddell's southern mark, the expedition had achieved its main purpose and should thus return to South Georgia before the season advanced further.[38] For Filchner, the overriding objective was to set up a shore base, and explore inland. He agreed, nevertheless, that they should search along the barrier edge for a better landing place. After several days' cruising, none was apparent, and the ship returned to Vahsel Bay.[39] Vahsel reluctantly agreed to a landing, but the site chosen was a berg attached to the barrier edge and appeared vulnerable. Vahsel assured Filchner that his experienced ice pilot, Paul Björvik, had approved the site as safe;[40] Björvik would later deny providing any such advice.[41]
Work began on constructing the base, and by 18 February it was nearly complete.[42] On that night, a violent tidal surge erupted; the section of ice containing the base broke off – 50 billion cubic metres of it – and floated away into the sea.[43] Through a desperate salvage exercise, all the personnel and much of the equipment were ferried back to the ship, although the hut itself was lost.[44] Filchner would not give up his intention to re-establish the base, and continued his efforts for several more days, but these proved unavailing.[45] At the beginning of March 1912, Deutschland began its return journey, having failed to achieve its main objective.[46]
By 15 March, Deutschland had advanced northwards only a few miles, and by 15 March was firmly beset. Attempts to blast a channel with dynamite failed, and it became clear that the ship was trapped in the ice for the winter. Morale had largely collapsed as a result of the Vahsel Bay debacle; drunkenness and threats of violence became the norm among the expedition's various factions. As the weeks passed in an atmosphere of increasing hostility and recrimination, Filchner sought to continue the work of the expedition with a programme of scientific observations in stations set up on the ice. He and two colleagues found a temporary escape from the toxic ambience by making a short trip over the ice to the approximate location where, ninety years previously, the American whaling captain Benjamin Morrell had claimed to have found land. They found no sign that there was any land in the vicinity, and concluded that Morrell had probably seen a mirage.
On 10 August Vahsel died. His replacement, first officer Wilhelm Lorenzen, was equally as hostile as his predecessor, and the poisoned atmosphere continued to prevail. By late September the ship was approaching open water, but many more weeks passed before, with the help of dynamite, the ship was freed from the ice on 26 November 1912. She arrived in Grytviken on 19 December, at which point the expedition disintegrated. The manager of the whaling station, Carl Anton Larsen, kept the factions apart until they could be transferred back to Germany by various ships. Filchner, optimistically, still believed that the expedition could be reconstituted with a view to another attempt at a landing the following year, and informed the American Geographical Society of his intentions. His erstwhile backers in Germany had other ideas, and summoned him home.
In Germany, Filchner's conduct of the expedition came under scrutiny, and accusations of poor leadership continued. Eventually, a Court of Honour largely exonerated him; even the Kaiser, who had opposed the expedition, declared his support for Filchner and laid the main blame for the failure on Vahsel. But the experience had wearied Filchner of the Antarctic. He declined an offer from Felix König, an Austrian biologist who had stayed loyal to Filchner during the recent expedition, to return with the Austrian expedition that König was organising. König acquired Deutschland and changed her name to Ostterreich, but his expedition was cancelled in August 1914, on the outbreak of the First World War. Likewise, the war ended the possibility of Filchner accompanying Amundsen on a planned Arctic expedition. Filchner's polar career was at an end.
Review from Ian R. Stone, The Registry, University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury, Kent. Pub by CUP, but what in?
Filchner demonstrated an imaginative and adventurous approach in the planning and execution of his various expeditions. In the course of his journeys, he made important and lasting contributions to the cartography and magnetic measurements of Central Asia,[2] and his Antarctic expedition produced significant scientific and geographical results.[47][48] However, his backgound and military training instilled a somewhat inflexible attitude, not conducive to successful teamwork, and created difficulties with interpersonal relationships. These were exemplified by his falling-out with Tafel, and his poor handling of the situation of divided command that arose on the Deutschland.[2] Murphy decribes Filchner as "a bit stiff, something of a cold fish", and lacking the sense of humour and common touch which marked leaders such as Shackleton. Lüdecke points out the marked successes of his later expeditions, which gained lavish praise from the Royal Geographical Society,[49] when he worked alone without the constraint of maintaining a collegial approach.[2]
Filchner's work was recognised in 1937 by his award of the German National Prize. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Königsberg (1911) and the Technical University of Munich (1938), and was appointed to an honorary professorship at the University of Berlin.[2] He is commemorated in the various Antarctic features that bear his name: the Filchner Rocks in South Georgia;[50] the Filchner Mountains in Queen Maud Land;[50] Cape Filchner;[50] the Filchner Trench in the Weddell Sea;[51] and the Filchner–Ronne Ice Shelf.[52] The Filchner Station operated as a German scientific base on Berkner Island between 1982 and 1999.[2]
As well as many volumes of scientific results and books of maps, derived from his various travels, Filchner wrote popular travel books and expedition accounts. These include Through East Tibet; Hell and Fever in Nepal; A Scientist in Tartary: From the Hoang Ho to the Indus; and Route-mapping and position-locating in unexplored regions. An english translation by William Barr of Filchner's memoir of the 1911–13 Antarctic expedition, To the Sixth Continent, was published in 1994.