Julius Payer 1872-74
The Northpole 1
The second Austro-Hungarian Polar expedition by Payer and the German captain Carl Weyprecht occurred at a time polar expeditions had become a matter of national prestige. Everything was about achieving great goals. The main aim was to advance to the North as far as possible. But soon Weyprecht’s ship was trapped by ice from which it, through an incredible stroke of luck, was driven to the shores of the unknown Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Land. Only by the skin of their teeth the crew could escape to the mainland by boat after two winters.