New Swabia 893014 224710091 2008-07-10T01:55:30Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other {{Antarctic expeditions (sidebar)}} '''New Swabia''' ([[German language|German]]: ''Neuschwabenland'') is a section of the continent [[Antarctica]] between 20°E and 10°W (overlapping a portion of Norway's claim zone [[Queen Maud Land]]), which was claimed by [[Nazi Germany]] between [[19 January]] [[1939]] and [[8 May]] [[1945]]. It is named for the [[Germany|German]] region of [[Swabia]]. ==Early expeditions== Like many other countries, Germany sent several expeditions to the Antarctic region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most of them were scientific. The expeditions in the late 19th century were astronomical, meteorological and hydrological, and took place in the [[Southern Ocean]] and on [[South Georgia]], the [[Kerguelen Islands]] and the [[Crozet Islands]], mostly in close collaboration with scientific teams from other countries. However, at the end of the 19th century, the Germans started to focus on Antarctica itself. The [[Gauss expedition]], the first German Antarctic expedition, took place from 1901–1903. Led by Arctic veteran and geology professor [[Erich von Drygalski]], it was the first expedition to use a [[hot-air balloon]] in Antarctica. It also discovered and named [[Kaiser Wilhelm II Land]]. The second German Antarctic expedition (1911–1912), led by [[Wilhelm Filchner]], aimed to cross Antarctica in an attempt to determine if Antarctica was one piece of land. The crossing attempt failed before it even started but the expedition discovered and named the [[Luitpold Coast]] and the [[Filchner Ice Shelf]]. A German [[whaling]] fleet was put to sea in 1937, and when it successfully returned in the spring of 1938, plans for a third German Antarctic expedition were drawn up because of the war. ==New Swabia expedition== The third German Antarctic Expedition (1938–1939) was led by [[Alfred Ritscher]] (1879–1963). The main purpose was to secure an area in Antarctica for a German whaling station, as part of a plan to increase Germany’s production of fat. Whale oil was then the most important raw material for the production of margarine and soap in Germany and the country was the second largest purchaser of Norwegian whale oil, importing some 200,000 metric tons annually. Besides the disadvantage of being dependent on foreign sources, especially since it was likely Germany soon would be at war, this put considerable pressure on Germany’s foreign currency assets. [[Image:LogoNeu.jpg|left|thumb|The 1938&ndash;1939 expedition logo]] On [[December 17]], [[1938]] the New Swabia Expedition left Hamburg for Antarctica aboard the ''Schwabenland'', a freighter capable of carrying and catapulting aircraft. The expedition had 33 members plus the ''Schwabenland'''s crew of 24. In January 1939 the ship arrived in an area already claimed in 1938 by [[Norway]] as [[Queen Maud Land|Dronning Maud Land]] and began charting the region. In the following weeks 15 flights were made by the ship’s two [[Dornier Wal]] aircraft named ''Passat'' and ''Boreas'' over an area reported as about 600,000 square kilometres (although others have claimed the area flown over was half this size). More than 16,000 aerial photographs were taken but these are still considered useless since they consist of more or less endless white images with no indications of latitude or longitude.<ref name="boudewijn">Boudewijn Büch. ''Eenzaam, Eilanden 2'' ('Lonely, Islands 2'), Holland 1994</ref> To assert Germany’s claim to newly named ''Neu-Schwabenland'' three German flags were placed along the coast and 13 more were air-dropped further inland. Some accounts claim these markers were 1.5-metre (5&nbsp;ft)-tall iron poles topped with a swastika. These were dropped in the ice at intervals of about 30–40 kilometres (20–25&nbsp;mi).<ref name="boudewijn"/> Teams also walked along the coast recording claim reservations on hills and other significant landmarks. The expedition also established a temporary base. [[Hot spring]]s with vegetation were sighted from the air at [[Schirmacher Oasis]] which now hosts [[Maitri]] station. The location was named for the captain who commanded the flight shortly before the ''Schwabenland's'' return to Germany in February 1939. Two more expeditions were scheduled for 1939–1940 and 1940–1941. These were expected to search for suitable whaling grounds and, more importantly, extend Germany’s territorial claims in the Antarctic. The second expedition would also address some military issues, probably investigating the feasibility of naval bases from which Germany could control the [[South Atlantic]] and [[Indian Ocean]] along with the [[Drake Passage]]. Both were cancelled with the outbreak of [[World War II]]. The name ''Neuschwabenland'' (and sometimes ''New Schwabenland'' or ''New Swabia'') is still used for the region on some maps, as are many of the German names given to its geographic features. [[Neumayer Station]], Germany's current Antarctic research facility, is located in the New Swabia area. ==Legal standing== [[Image:NewSwabiaMap.jpg|right|thumb|Map of Antarctica showing the location and size of New Swabia as claimed by Germany from 1939 to 1945.]] No country ever recognized Germany's claim. Although individuals have insisted that through a legal loophole the German [[Third Reich]] still exists judicially within the former borders of New Swabia, this is not supported by either German or international law nor by the terms of unconditional surrender to the [[Allies of World War II|Allied Powers]] signed by representatives of the German government on [[May 8]], [[1945]] (the date usually given for Germany's abandonment of the claim) leading to the ''Berlin Declaration'' made by the [[Allied Control Council]], which legally dissolved Germany's civilian government and was further acknowledged in 1990 when a re-unified German government signed the [[Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany]]. ==New Swabia's role in alternative historical theories== An [[Nazi mysticism|esoteric Hitlerist]] legend recounts that [[Adolf Hitler]] did not [[Hitler's death|commit suicide]] in 1945, but fled to Argentina, then to an [[SS]] base under the ice in New Swabia during the early 1950s where he resumed his career as a painter. According to this account, [[Operation Highjump]], the largest expedition mounted to the Antarctic, is claimed to have been sent to wipe out the Nazi presence.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} From 1945 to 1950 the official Soviet position was that Hitler was in hiding somewhere in Argentina.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} In 1950, when intelligence reports ceased to indicate that he was located there, the Soviet government changed its position to the suicide theory, which had been accepted by the Western Allies. According to some rumours, {{who}} the actual reason that intelligence reports of his presence in Argentina ceased was that he had left for Antarctica. An extended version of the story claims that Hitler returned to Argentina in the early 1960s, and died at a remote Patagonian estancia in 1968.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} {{seealso|Nazi UFOs}} ==See also== *[[List of Antarctica expeditions]] ==External links== *[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=B6356AB01A1A845DF9DE9BBF66D76DCD.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=648112 Hitler's Antarctic base: the myth and the reality] ==References== *[http://www.south-pole.com/p0000085.htm 1901&ndash;03 German Antarctic Expedition] Scott Polar Research Institute *[http://www.south-pole.com/p0000103.htm 1911&ndash;12 German Antarctic Expedition] Scott Polar Research Institute *[http://www.dsm.de/Pubs2/26_06.htm Secret Mission to the Antarctic] Abstract from research paper by Cornelia Lüdecke 2003, about the 1938&ndash;39 German Antarctic Expedition *[http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de_colon.html#nsw Former German colonies and territories] *[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Antarctica.html#Germany WorldStatesmen &ndash; Antarctica] *[http://www.tu-dresden.de/ipg/report-iae20.html#hi Hintergrundinformation zum Dronning-Maud-Land / Ostantarktis] [[Technische Universität Dresden]] (German)<!-- included not as a useful link, but as a source --> <references /> {{Antarctic territorial claims}} {{Former German colonies}} {{coor title dm|72|00|S|5|00|E|}} [[Category:Antarctic territorial claims]] [[Category:Former German colonies]] [[Category:German Empire]] [[Category:History of Antarctica]] [[ar:شوابيا الجديدة]] [[de:Neuschwabenland]] [[es:Nueva Suabia]] [[fr:Nouvelle-Souabe]] [[it:Nuova Svevia]] [[he:שווביה החדשה]] [[nl:Nieuw-Schwabenland]] [[uz:Yangi Shvabiya]] [[pl:Nowa Szwabia]] [[pt:Nova Suábia]] [[ru:Новая Швабия]] [[sv:Neuschwabenland]] [[uk:Нова Швабія]]