AUSTRO UGARSKA POLARNA EKSPEDICIJA - POVODOM 140. OBLJETNICE OTKRIĆA ZEMLJE FRANJE JOSIPA
AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN POLAR EXPEDITION - ON THE OCCASION OF 140 ANNIVERSARY OF THE DISCOVERY OF FRANZ JOSEF LAND

Summary/Abstract: Two Austro – Hungarian pole expeditions (1871, 1872 – 1874) led by Karl Weyprecht and Julius Payer were undertaken with the aim of exploring the North East Passage. The most important result of the expeditions was the discovery of an archipelago which the explorers named Franz Joseph Land in honour of the then reigning Austro-Hungarian emperor (now a Russian National Park called Zemlya Franca Iosifa). The discovery of the archipelago meant that the land would have to be explored and mapped. The undertaking was conducted under the leadership of Julius Payer (1841 – 1915), a highly experienced explorer and cartographer. The first maps of Franz Joseph Land with the related aquatorium were created under his guidance. The making of the maps of this northernmost land region of the European Arctic proved to be an extremely taxing effort, both physically and scientifically. Due to the specific configuration of the islands and high latitude the explorers had to be well versed in the principles of marine cartography, polar cartography and mountain cartography (representing very steep islands and glaciers) and the application of these principles in the harsh and unforgiving conditions of the Arctic climate. The Austro-Hungarian pole expeditions were meticulously prepared from a scientific standpoint and had an important influence on the subsequent exploration of the Arctic region in general and the development of the mapping of polar areas in particular. New standards in Arctic exploration, mapping of land and sea and mapping of a whole array of meteorological and geomagnetic phenomena characteristic to polar areas were established.

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