Never Go Back – Goodbye To Franz Josef Land (Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition Part Four)

On the evening of Tuesday, May 20, 1874, the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition said goodbye to Franz Josef Land. They would be the first and last citizens of Austria-Hungary to see this sublime polar frontier. Their discovery had been the product of serendipity. Wind and ice, perpetual barriers to polar exploration, had aided them. The elements had pushed their ship, Tegetthoff, to within a short distance of the 192-island archipelago. From that point, a small crew managed to make its way ashore and become the first humans to explore these glaciated islands of mesmerizing beauty and ferociously inhospitable terrain.

Moving on from Franz Josef Land was necessary. However, abandoning the Tegetthoff was difficult for the crew. It meant abandoning the three masted, bespoke ship which had offered them shelter throughout the expedition. It also meant saying goodbye to the grave of Otto Krisch, the lone casualty from the crew. Krisch had died earlier that year of tuberculosis. The Moravian mechanic had suffered for a year and a half before finally succumbing to the illness. There were other solemn moments as well. Before taking final leave of the ship, crewmembers nailed standards to the Tegetthoff’s masts. This would be the last time anyone would ever see the ship. Like everything else that had occurred on this Arctic odyssey, the crew was leaving it behind forever.

Extreme Difficulties – The Journey Home

Getting back to civilization was the crew’s ultimate goal and they immediately encountered extreme difficulties in doing so. Even though summer was approaching, the region was perpetually in the grip of ice and snow. Travel was near impossible at times. The hardships endured by the men are difficult for anyone reading about them today to comprehend. It was not so much an odyssey, as it was an ordeal. The crew had to travel over the same ground on multiple occasions. First, they would have to clear a path through heavy snow, then pull their supplies forward. It took all twenty-three men along with two dogs to pull a single sledge. They covered much more ground going back and forth than they did going forward. After two months of exhausting and often fruitless exertions, the men had traveled a mere thirteen kilometers (eight miles) from the ship. If the situation did not improve, they would have to return to the Tegetthoff.

In a bit of fortuitous luck that often characterized the expedition, northerly winds and rainfall began to break the ice apart. The crew was now able to travel a mile per day, rocket speed when compared to the lack of progress they had made during the preceding months. Not enough can be said about the outstanding leadership exhibited by Julius von Payer and Karl Weyprecht during this time and throughout the entire expedition. For the crew to continue onward despite the most trying circumstances speaks to the trust engendered by the two co-leaders. There was an almost supernatural will to endure incredible hardships among the men. For over two years, superb organization and a strong survival instinct sustained the crew. It almost defies belief that a group of men, the majority of whom came from the Mediterranean like Croatian coastline, could find it in themselves to survive the most wretched climatic conditions imaginable. The obstacles they faced were formidable, even as they neared the end of their journey.

Arctic explorer - Julius von Payer

Victory Lap – Acclaim & Fame

After one final delay when the crew were stuck on an ice floe for a five-day period, the expedition finally came to open water on August 14, just a week shy of three months since they had left their ship behind. Open water was a lifeline that would guarantee the crew’s survival. Taking to their boats and guided by favorable winds, the crew was soon skirting the coastline of Novalya Zemlya, an archipelago in Russian territory. After ten days afloat, they sighted a Russian schooner. This guaranteed their survival and by extension a successful return home. It was a propitious ending to 25 months spent in the most extreme circumstances imaginable. The advance preparation done prior to the expedition – they carried three years’ worth of supplies and provisions – played a large part in twenty-three of the twenty-four men returning home safely. That is incredible when one considers how close they came to tragedy. It is that much more astonishing when one considers the harsh terrain and unforgiving climate of Franz Josef Land.

The journey home for the expedition’s crew members was one long victory lap. They traveled by steamboat along the coastlines of Norway and Sweden. Geographical societies feted them along the way as these groups were interested in learning the details of their discoveries. The fact that there was not a viable open water route that would allow for the Northeast Passage was a major finding that would influence future Arctic exploration. In the autumn of 1874, the crew sailed into Hamburg, Germany from where they took a train back to Vienna. The men received the warmest of welcomes when in Austria-Hungary. Their expedition was the stuff that makes men into legends. The fact that only a couple of months earlier they were on the cusp of having to spend another winter on the stranded Tegetthoff showed just how much their lives had changed. From overwhelming despair to widespread acclaim, the members of the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition understood the stark difference between fame and anonymity, life and death. They had experienced polar extremes in both fame and fortune.

The will to endure - Painting by Julius von Payer from the Austro-Hungarian North Pole Expedition

Competition & Collaboration – The International Polar Year

Polar exploration was one of the most dangerous undertakings in the 19th century. It was a form of science based extreme sports. There was more competition than cooperation. Karl Weyprecht wanted to ensure that collaboration occurred in the future. To that end, he proposed what would come to be known as the International Polar Years (IPYs). The IPYs pooled resources across different nations to share information from explorations and scientific monitoring. Weyprecht died a year before the first one took place in 1882. The IPYs would be his legacy. As for the expedition’s other co-leader, Julius von Payer would live a longer life and create his own legacy, but his path to notoriety would be anything but easy.