Though there was continued expectation that the ice would ultimately release its hold and give access to open water, the Tegetthoff was now drifting into the unknown. The phenomenon of ice-drift in the Arctic ocean was not yet known much less understood, and the ship was in the same nightmare situation as the American Jeanette expedition of 1878-81 (Click here to read a separate article on this). A month later she found herself locked in pack ice north of Novaya Zemlya. The Tegetthoff departed from Tromsø, in Norway, in July 1872. The Tegetthoff model in Vienna’s Naturhistorisches Museum The crew was small – 24 in number, including scientific staff. It was under command of Captain Karl Weyprecht, who had himself served under the famous Admiral Tegetthoff, for whom the vessel was named. Financed by two noblemen, the exploration was to concentrate on the area north-west of Novaya Zemlya. It was not surprising therefore that when a major Austro-Hungarian scientific and exploration effort was launched in the early 1870s the focus was to be on the Arctic Ocean and investigation of a possible route to the North Pole. The Novara model in Vienna’s Naturhistorisches Museumīy the 1870s the Arctic had become a major focus of exploration activity. The first was the previously mentioned Novara, but the second was of the later Tegetthoff, which was responsible for the discovery of Franz Josef Land. We were impressed by two splendid models of ships that had participated in important scientific expeditions. My wife and I spent two full days in the museum in September 2016 and we could have spent an entire week there, with no less pleasure. It provided material for what would become Vienna’s Naturhistorisches Museum in such volume that some of it is still under examination today. The resulting Novara expedition was to be a triumph that included oceanographic and geomagnetic surveys as well as investigation of the onshore botany and geology of lands visited. In this period, such expeditions were matters of international prestige comparable to space exploration in our own day and Austria (and later Austro-Hungary), which had only acquired a navy in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, was keen not to be left out. Another article (Click here to read it) on this site describes Austro-Hungary’s Novara scientific expedition of 1857-59. His domains lay in Central and Southern Europe and it is therefore all the more surprising that the archipelago named after him – Franz Josef Land – should be located in the Arctic Ocean and be today a Russian possession of considerable strategic value. His wife was murdered, his son died in a suicide pact, his brother – the so-called Emperor of Mexico – was shot by a firing squad and his nephew’s assassination triggered disaster in 1914. Conscientious, unimaginative, hardworking, pig-headed, but essentially stupid, his tenure was to be marked by military defeat, political decline and personal tragedy. Today is highlighted.įranz Josef Land has midnight sun in August.Emperor Franz Josef (1830 – 1916) of the Austro-Hungarian Empire reigned for an amazing 68 years and is probably best remembered today for his complicity in starting World War 1. Dates are based on the Gregorian calendar. * All times are local time for Franz Josef Land. Business Date to Date (exclude holidays).
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