Alfred Ritscher
Alfred Ritscher | |
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Born | Third German Antarctic Expedition | 23 May 1879
Alfred Ritscher (23 May 1879 in
Biography
In 1897 Alfred Ritscher made his first trip as a cabin boy on the Bremen ship "Emily". In 1903 he passed his helmsman exams and earned his master's certificate in 1907. At the beginning of 1912, Ritscher gained a place in the newly created Seehandbuchwerk of the Navy Office.
Ritscher was skipper of the "German Arctic Expedition" of 1912–1913, under the command of Herbert Schröder-Stranz, which departed from Tromsø in the motor vessel Herzog Ernst for a preliminary reconnaissance of a planned navigation of the Northeast Passage. He also took over the leadership of the airborne survey of the expedition and obtained a pilot licence. The expedition failed whilst attempting the crossing of the Nordaustlandet island in northeastern Spitsbergen archipelago, because of poor equipment, misjudged weather, and starting too late in the year. Ritscher marched over 210 kilometres (130 mi) in seven and a half days, to the settlement of Longyearbyen. Search expeditions were sent after his message about the fate of the Schroeder-Stranz expedition and saved six of the fourteen missing expedition members.[5]
During the
In 1934, Ritscher divorced his Jewish wife Susan née Loewenthal, in order not to endanger his career in the War Department.
Also in 1934, Ritscher became an officer in command of the Navy. In 1938, he became head of the German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39, with a mandate to set up a base for the German whaling fleet, carry out air exploration and claim territory. During this expedition he flew over an area of about 600,000 square kilometres (230,000 sq mi) with two
At the outbreak of the
Awards
- 1959: Grand Federal Cross of Merit
- 1959: Silver Kirchenpauer Medal of the Geographical Society in Hamburg
- The Ritschergipfel and the Ritscher Highlands in East Antarctica have been named after him.
Works
- Preliminary Report on the German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39. - Ann. Hydrog. and Marit. Meteorol. 67, August-booklet. Inside: Overview table of the work area of the German Antarctic Expedition 1938-39: Neuschwabenland: 1:1.500.000 - 1 May / June 1939.
- German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39 with the base plane of Lufthansa AG M.S. "Swabia". - 1 Band, Scientific and flying experiences, Koehler & Amelang; Leipzig 1942nd
- German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39 with the base plane of Lufthansa AG M.S. "Swabia". - 2 Band, Scientific Results. Geographical and Cartographic Institute "Mundus", Hamburg, 1954–58.
See also
References
- ^ USGS Geographic Names Information System: USGS GNIS: Ritscher Peak
- ^ USGS Geographic Names Information System: USGS GNIS: Ritscher Upland
- ^ Berichte Zur Polarforschung. Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polarforschung. 1995.
- ^ Karsten Brunk (1986). Kartographische Arbeiten und deutsche Namengebung in Neuschwabenland, Antarktis: bisherige Arbeiten, Rekonstruktion der Flugwege der Deutschen Antarktischen Expedition 1938/39 und Neubearbeitung des deutschen Namengutes in Neuschwabenland. Verlag des Instituts für Angewandte Geodäsie.
- ^ Over the Front. League of World War I Aviation Historians. 2006.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57607-422-0.
- ISBN 978-0-913159-06-4.