Historical aspects of German polar engagement
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Alfred Lothar Wegener - German geophysicist & meteorologist whose theory of continental drift was accepted after initial rejection
(© picture-alliance/ Mary Evans Picture Library)
Since the mid-1800s a number of famous German Polar Researchers have strongly contributed to scientific discoveries in and around the polar regions. While Carl Koldewey led the first German expeditions to the High North in 1868 and 1870, Georg von Neumayer was advocating Antarctic research and - as president of the International Polar Commission - one of the founding fathers of the first International Polar Year (IPY). Alfred Wegener, who developed the theory of continental drift at the beginning of the 20th century, conducted several expeditions to the interior of Greenland. Today, the German polar reseach institute bears his name, while major research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic are namend after Koldewey and Neumayer.
Read more about these and other German polar researchers.
When the Federal Republic of Germany joined the Antarctic Treaty in 1974, preparations began to coordinate polar research in one main facility. As a consequence, the Alfred-Wegener-Institute was established in 1980. It is headquartered in Bremerhaven, operating four research vessels, including the icebreaking vessel Polarstern and has permanent research stations in both Polar regions.
The German Democratic Republic had its own Polar programme, dating back to the year 1957 when East German scientists first joined Soviet expeditions to Antarctica and later established the Georg Forster research station on the sixth continent. Following German unification in 1990, both programmes were merged under the umbrella of AWI and the headquarters of the GDR programme became the Potsdam branch of AWI.
Germany is a permanent observer to the Arctic Council. The Council was created in 1996 in Ottawa and is the international forum for cooperation on Arctic issues. Germany is contributing to its work, especially the scientific working groups, up to the limits set for observers by the institution's founding documents.
