This account, by its commander, of a German Arctic expedition was published in English translation in 1874.

On the 24th of October, 1868, a number of gentlemen were assembled at Bremen, to celebrate the happy return of the members of the First German Arctic Expedition, including their commander Captain Carl Koldewey, and its scientific originator, Dr. A. Petermann. The rough sketch of a plan for the German Arctic Expedition of 1869,” with maps, from Dr. Petermann, was not long wanting. According to his suggestion, the expedition was to consist of two parts, so as to endeavour to solve two problems at the same time. A steamer was to land on East Greenland, and taking it as the basis of the winter operations, should try to penetrate into the heart of the Polar region; a second steamer should, at any point between Greenland and Nova Zembla, strive to reach the highest latitude possible. For the carrying out of this plan two steamers were considered necessary. But the preparations soon reached a critical point....

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

A detailed account of the voyage of the German Ships Germania and Hansa, the wreck of the Hansa in the ice, sled journeys and observations of natural phenomena in Greenland.

German Exploration of the Polar World is the exciting story of the generations of German polar explorers who braved the perils of the Arctic and Antarctic for themselves and their country. Such intrepid adventurers as Wilhelm Filchner, Erich von Drygalski, and Alfred Wegener are not as well known today as Robert Falcon Scott, Roald Amundsen, Ernest Shackleton, Robert E. Peary, or Richard E. Byrd, but their bravery and the hardships they faced were equal to those of the more famous polar explorers. In the half-century prior to World War II, the poles were the last blank spaces on the global map, and they exerted a tremendous pull on national imaginations. Under successive political regimes, the Germans threw themselves into the race for polar glory with an ardor that matched their better-known counterparts bearing English, American, and Norwegian flags. German polar explorers were driven, like their rivals, by a complex web of interlocking motivations. Personal fame, the romance of the unknown, and the advancement of science were important considerations, but public pressure, political and military concerns, and visions of immense, untapped wealth at the poles also spurred the explorers. As historian David Thomas Murphy shows, Germany's repeated encounters with the polar world left an indelible impression upon the German public, government, and scientific community. Reports on the polar landscape, flora, and fauna enhanced Germany's appreciation of the global environment. Accounts of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic, accurate or fantastic, permanently shaped German notions of culture and civilization. The final, failed attempt by the Nazis to extend German political power to the earth's ends revealed the limits of any country's ability to reshape the globe politically or militarily.