German Arctic Research Articles

Evolution of the arctic strategy of the Federal Republic of Germany

The article traces the development of the Arctic strategy of the Federal Republic of Germany in order to identify the evolution of its priorities and main factors. In the understanding of the Arctic strategy, two opposite approaches were formed among German official circles: pragmatic, aimed at maximum extracting economic benefits with rather modest claims for international legal regulation of the Arctic regime and ecocentric which proceeds from the environmental protection priority of the Arctic region and insists on more active international positioning of Germany to solve these problems. Each approach was represented by certain political forces, groups of interests and even ministries. During the 2010s, the pragmatic approach was gradually being replaced by the ecocentric. On the other hand, Germany was more and more skeptical about the possibility of preventing a geopolitical race in the Arctic and therefore systematically expanded its military presence in the region. German Arctic policy is based on current international law and institutions, as well as focuses on the aspiration to bring more strict environmental and technical standards to them, and wide financial support of Arctic research and the assertion of its freedom; synchronization with the Arctic policy of the EU; consideration for the interests of the indigenous population; technological export; active prevention of global warming and expansion of marine protected areas in the Arctic.

German-Norwegian Relations in the Second Half of 2010s: Political and Military Aspects

The article characterizes the relations between the NATO member states which are also Arctic states in military-political sphere. In this situation Norway is a valuable partner not only for the USA but also for European NATO member states and especially Germany considering its ambitions as full-fare global power. The goal of article is to explore trajectory and dynamics of German-Norwegian relations in political-military sphere in the second half of 2010s. The paper issues the functioning of negotiation link A. Merkel — E. Solberg and also German steps which led to its launch. The author shows the importance of Norway for Germany as an Arctic and in this regard explores Germany’s Arctic strategy. Germany tried to neutralize the negative effect of Norway’s lack of EU membership and also the unwillingness of Norway to join PESCO platform. There was the spill-over effect when the experience of full-fare cooperation in political sphere was also moved to the military sphere at the end of 2010s. The paper explores the features of the competition between the USA and Germany for influence over Norway in the context of the US and German Arctic ambitions. The author concludes about the possibilities and difficulties of the further rise of German-Norwegian relations for the perspective by the early 2020s.

Die Wissenschaft als Wegbegleiterin zur Umsetzung der Leitlinien Deutscher Arktispolitik

Abstract. On 21 August 2019 the German Federal Cabinet stipulated its New Arctic Policy Guidelines. Science is an integral part of this political document according to which scientific findings shall be the starting point of the German activities in the Arctic. The present article argues that an independent “German” Arctic policy can only be successfully shaped by taking scientific knowledge into consideration. In order to investigate the role of science in German Arctic policy different governmental documents have been analyzed, notably the New German Arctic Policy Guidelines. First of all, the article discusses why Germany as a Non-Arctic riparian state is pursuing its own Arctic policy. For this purpose, it considers the main reasons which have caused Germany to exert an influence on the Arctic. These include strategic, economic, ecologic and especially research-oriented interests. Concerning the implementation of the goals of the New Arctic Policy Guidelines the knowledge transfer between science and politics is of special significance. The article describes how science contributes to political decisions by generating explanation models, different approaches to solutions or by issuing recommendations. In order to tackle the multi-layered and complex structured goals of the German Arctic Guidelines politics need to take into account research and science to remain capable of acting. Thus, science is indispensable for the realisation of the German Arctic Policy goals. Finally, the article points out that the traditional polar research system is shifting from a traditional natural scientific-based orientation to a more inclusive and broad-ranging orientation. It shows how diverse academic disciplines scientifically deal with questions regarding the Arctic. Here, the article argues that the traditional natural scientific-based orientation of polar science is outdated whereas a demand for interdisciplinary Arctic polar science has emerged. By looking at the project “Marine Conservation in the Arctic” the article illustrates how these different academic fields can successfully be merged.

The Arctic Cloud Puzzle: Using ACLOUD/PASCAL Multiplatform Observations to Unravel the Role of Clouds and Aerosol Particles in Arctic Amplification

AbstractClouds play an important role in Arctic amplification. This term represents the recently observed enhanced warming of the Arctic relative to the global increase of near-surface air temperature. However, there are still important knowledge gaps regarding the interplay between Arctic clouds and aerosol particles, and surface properties, as well as turbulent and radiative fluxes that inhibit accurate model simulations of clouds in the Arctic climate system. In an attempt to resolve this so-called Arctic cloud puzzle, two comprehensive and closely coordinated field studies were conducted: the Arctic Cloud Observations Using Airborne Measurements during Polar Day (ACLOUD) aircraft campaign and the Physical Feedbacks of Arctic Boundary Layer, Sea Ice, Cloud and Aerosol (PASCAL) ice breaker expedition. Both observational studies were performed in the framework of the German Arctic Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and Surface Processes, and Feedback Mechanisms (AC)3 project. They took place in the vicinity of Svalbard, Norway, in May and June 2017. ACLOUD and PASCAL explored four pieces of the Arctic cloud puzzle: cloud properties, aerosol impact on clouds, atmospheric radiation, and turbulent dynamical processes. The two instrumented Polar 5 and Polar 6 aircraft; the icebreaker Research Vessel (R/V) Polarstern; an ice floe camp including an instrumented tethered balloon; and the permanent ground-based measurement station at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, were employed to observe Arctic low- and mid-level mixed-phase clouds and to investigate related atmospheric and surface processes. The Polar 5 aircraft served as a remote sensing observatory examining the clouds from above by downward-looking sensors; the Polar 6 aircraft operated as a flying in situ measurement laboratory sampling inside and below the clouds. Most of the collocated Polar 5/6 flights were conducted either above the R/V Polarstern or over the Ny-Ålesund station, both of which monitored the clouds from below using similar but upward-looking remote sensing techniques as the Polar 5 aircraft. Several of the flights were carried out underneath collocated satellite tracks. The paper motivates the scientific objectives of the ACLOUD/PASCAL observations and describes the measured quantities, retrieved parameters, and the applied complementary instrumentation. Furthermore, it discusses selected measurement results and poses critical research questions to be answered in future papers analyzing the data from the two field campaigns.

A nation on ice: Germany and the Arctic, 1865–1875

This article considers the connection between German Arctic exploration and German nation-building during the period of unification. It uses transnational and environmental history to study the German interest and experience in the Far North alongside distinct social, cultural, political, and scientific developments at home. It proposes that polar explorers and enthusiasts leveraged Arctic nature in the struggle to forge a unified German nation. They did this not only by rendering the Arctic in a way that allowed Germans to identify with it, but also by drawing the place as a proving ground for German cultural values and scientific ambition.

A Hans Krüger Arctic Expedition Cache on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut

In 1999 a team of geologists discovered an archaeological site near Cape Southwest, Axel Heiberg Island. On the basis of its location and the analysis of two artifacts removed from the site, the discoverers concluded that it was a hastily abandoned campsite created by Hans Krüger’s German Arctic Expedition, which was believed to have disappeared between Meighen and Amund Ringnes islands in 1930. If the attribution to Krüger were correct, the existence of this site would demonstrate that the expedition got farther on its return journey to Bache Peninsula than previously believed. An archaeological investigation of the site by the Government of Nunavut in 2004 confirmed its tentative attribution to the German Arctic Expedition but suggested that it is not a campsite, but the remains of a deliberately and carefully constructed cache. The finds suggest that one of the three members of the expedition may have perished before reaching Axel Heiberg Island, and that the survivors, in order to lighten their sledge, transported valued but heavy items (including Krüger’s geological specimens) to this prominent and well-known location to cache them, intending to return and recover them at some later date.

Retracing the route of Hans K. E. Krüger's 1930 German Arctic expedition

ABSTRACTPrior to the discovery in 1999 of an archaeological site near Cape Southwest, on southern Axel Heiberg Island, little was known about the movements of the ill fated 1930 German Arctic Expedition, led by Hans K.E. Krüger. What was known was based on the content of three cairn documents that spanned a period of just thirteen days. This paper presents new information that expands our knowledge of the expedition's route using catalogue labels found with geological specimens collected by Krüger and recovered from the site. The movements of the expedition over a period of 43 days are reconstructed, ten additions are made to the known itinerary, and an approximate date of the group's arrival at Cape Southwest is presented. The data show that despite concerns about the health of both Krüger and his Danish assistant, and about the weight of equipment being transported, the expedition had made good progress prior to reaching Cape Southwest.

War north of 80: the last German Arctic weather station of World War II

Obtaining weather data was vital for military operations in Northwestern Europe during World War II. In an effort to secure this data, the German Navy and Air Force secretly established manned weather stations in East Greenland, Svalbard, and Franz Josef Land. War North of 80: The Last German Arctic Weather Station of World War II is the personal story of Wilhelm Dege, the leader of the last weather station, code-named Operation Haudegen. With a detailed introduction, Barr's translation offers Engish-speaking readers a rare glimpse into the Germans' account of weather activities during World War II in the Arctic. An epilogue written by Dege's son offers insight into the various fates of the expedition members who worked alongside his father.

War North of 80: The Last German Arctic Weather Station of World War II, by Wilhem Dege. Translated from the German and edited by William Barr

War North of 80: The Last German Arctic Weather Station of World War II, by Wilhem Dege. Translated from the German and edited by William Barr

Errata

Polar Record, Vol 18, No 116, May 1977, p 521, line 4. Stallworthy did indeed find die first trace of the lost German Arctic Expedition led by Dr Krüger, but not die only trace. Canadian field parties subsequently found two other records, at Cape Bourne in 1954, and at the north end of Meighen Island in 1957. Line 21, for Inspector Joyce read Inspector Joy.

Record of German Arctic Expedition, 1929–30

Record of German Arctic Expedition, 1929–30

A Contribution to the Geology of the Country between Petermann Peak and Kjerulf Fjord, East Greenland

The Cambridge Expedition to East Greenland in 1929 set sail from Aberdeen on 2nd July in the sealing-sloop Heimland, which had been chartered from Tromsö, Norway. Taking the Fair Isle passage, the edge of the pack-ice was reached six days later, and entered in the region of latitude 71° 30′ N., longitude 15° 30′ W. Last summer proved unusually difficult for navigation in the East Greenland ice-current, and it was not until 4th August after a month in the ice that we reached land-water and anchored in Mackenzie Bay. From the Bay a course was steered west-wards along Franz Josef Fjord to the foot of the Riddar Valley on the west side of Kjerulf Fjord. Here the party divided; the ship-party with two geologists during the next fortnight studied the tectonics shown in the great cliff-sections bounding Franz Josef Fjord and King Oscar Fjord (Davy Sound) and their branches (Fig. 1), while a second party of six was landed near Riddar Valley in order to map the tract of country lying immediately to the west of the head of Franz Josef Fjord (Fig. 2). Their ultimate objective was Petermann Peak, discovered by Payer and Copeland of the German Arctic Expedition of 1869–70, and estimated to be 11,000 feet high. A hurried reconnaissance in 1926 to the Cambridge Peaks had shown that the most likely route to the interior would be westwards along the watershed between the head of Kjerulf Fjord and the Nordenskiöld Glacier. The land-party left Kjerulf Fjord on 6th August, reached Petermann Peak on 15th August, and returned to base on 18th August. The present paper embodies the geological work carried out during the mountain journey, and is based on collections made by Mr. J. M. Wordie and Mr. V. E. Fuchs.

Ice Growth2

SEVERAL of the Arctic Expeditions have instituted observations on the rate of growth of the ice during the winter, and in the “Contributions to Arctic Meteorology,” vol. i., 1885, records of this nature are given for the following stations: Gulf of Boothia, Assistance Bay, Port Bowen, Walker Bay, Cambridge Bay, Camden Bay, Princess Royal Islands, and Mercy Bay. The second German Arctic Expedition has also undertaken such investigations and published results in its report (Leipzig, 1874).

German Expedition to Siberia

AS a sketch of the present state of Central and Northern Asia, it may perhaps not be uninteresting to our readers to have laid before them the following extract from a letter written by Dr. Finsch, who, together with Dr. Brehm and Count Waldburg-Zeil, is at present engaged in the scientific exploration of Southern Siberia, under the auspices of the German Arctic Society. The letter dates from Lepsa, near the Bal-kash-lake, May 13.

The German Arctic Expedition in 1869–70, and Narrative of the Wreck of the “Hansa” in the Ice.

THIS well-told and extremely interesting narrative of the fruitful German expedition to East Greenland in 1869–70 strongly confirms what we have said in our leading article with regard to the necessity of Government undertaking arctic exploration in order that it may be carried on with the greatest efficiency, the wisdom of choosing the route by Smith's Sound, and the valuable results that may be looked for from an expedition organised on a broad and liberal basis and carried out in a thoroughly systematic manner.