Karl Weyprecht

Karl Weyprecht, was born on September 8. 1838 in Bad König (alternatively in Michelstadt in Odenwald Germany), and died March 3, 1881 in Michelstadt. He was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Marines, a Linienschiffsleutnant. He is most famous as an arctic explorer, and an advocate of international cooperation for scientific polar exploration.

n 1856 he joined the Austro-Hungarian Navy (Kriegsmarine) as a provisional sea cadet. He served in the 1859 war. From 1860 to 1862 he served on the frigate "Radetzky" under the command of Admiral Tagetthoff. From 1863-65 he was instructional officer on the training ship "Hussar."

On July 23, 1865 he became known to the German geographer August Petermann at a meeting of the "Geographic Society" in Frankfurt.

He served in the July 20 1866 sea battle at Lissa aboard the battleship ship "Drache".

In 1868 he had to hand over the leadership of the first German polar expedition to Karl Holdeway due to ill-health. He met Julius von Payr in 1870, He made a preliminary expedition with Julius von Payer to Novaya Zemlya in 1871.

On February 18, 1872 he gained citizenship in Austro-Hungary.

He co-led with Julius von Payer the 1872-74 Austro-Hungarian north polar expedition on the ship "Admiral Tegetthoff" which discovered Franz Josef Land in the arctic. It wintered in the pack ice.

On September 18, 1875 he addressed the 48th Meeting of German Scientists and Physicians in Graz, Austria. He reported the "basic principles of arctic research" and suggested that fixed arctic observation stations should be established.

In 1879 he presented these ideas, along with George Neumayer's to the 2nd International Congress of Meteorologists in Rome.

In 1881 he died of tuberculosis.

Bibliography

Karl Weyprecht, Die Metamorphosen des Polareises. Österr.-Ung. Arktische Expedition 1872-1874 (The Metamorphosis of Polar Ice. The Austro-Hungarian Polar Expedition of 1872-1874)

Julius von Payer New Lands within the Arctic Circle (1876)