New Swabia

New Swabia is divided into an ice-covered northern foreland, which gradually rises from the coast and the edge of the ice shelf to over 1,000 m (Ritscher Upland and Helle Slope). To the south, it is followed by a region of nunataks rising from the ice and mountain ranges with heights over 3,000 m. These mountain ranges dam up the glaciers of the polar plateau to over 2,000 m. The high-altitude glacial regions are named after the famous polar explorers Roald Amundsen and Alfred Wegener. The ice-free areas vary greatly in morphology. In addition to kilometers of fault scarps that run roughly parallel to the continental margin and are particularly prevalent in the west, central and east, New Swabia is dominated by mountain ranges in the north-south that follow old, preglacial valley systems. Three mighty glaciers drain this sector of East Antarctica: At 20°W, the Stancomb-Wills Glacier flows westward onto the Brunt Ice Shelf. The boundary between western and central New Swabia is marked by the Jutulstraumen Glacier, which feeds the Fimbul Ice Shelf. The 200 km wide glacier Borchgrevinkisen forms the eastern border of New Swabia. At the eastern end of New Swabia lies the deep-sea trench Schwabenland Canyon. Seasonally ice-free lakes A geographical feature of New Swabia is its ice-free freshwater lakes during the Antarctic summer. These lakes are located on the 34 km² hilly plateau, the Schirmacher Oasis (or Schirmacher Lake Plateau), at 70° 45′ S, 11° 40′ E. 118 lakes with a total area of 6,487 km² are known. Only a portion of these lakes develop on the bedrock; some lakes also lie on the ice shelf immediately north of the oasis. All lakes contain a rich algal flora, with 72 species identified. The discoverer of the Schirmacher Oasis was Richardheinrich Schirmacher, pilot of the second flying boat, the Boreas, of the expedition ship Schwabenland. Lakes with permanent ice cover The Obersee and Untersee lie on the northern edge of the Gruber Mountains at 795 m and 580 m above sea level, respectively. The Obersee covers an area of 3.43 km², while the Untersee is 11.4 km², making them the largest lakes in New Swabia. They are covered in ice year-round and fill deep, carved-out trough valleys. The lakes are dammed by glaciers and have no outflow. ==Climate and vegetation==

New Swabia has a highpolar climate with temperatures below freezing around the year. The low air temperatures are partially set off by strong solar radiation in the Antarctic summer (December to February). Temperatures of up to +19°C have been measured on rock surfaces, allowing simple vegetation to grow on these rocky substrates. The necessary water is created by melting, drifting snow on rock surfaces exposed to the sun. In the central area of New Swabia, simple filamentous algae (Prasiola and Ulothrix) and lichens have been found alongside cyanobacteria. The species Lecidea sp., Rhizocarpon geographicum and Usnea sphacelata are particularly common. Two moss species (Grimmia lawiana and Sarconeurum glaciale) have also been found in favorable locations. ==Background==

Like many other countries, Germany sent expeditions to the Antarctic region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most of which were scientific. The late 19th century expeditions to the Southern Ocean, South Georgia, the Kerguelen Islands, and the Crozet Islands were astronomical, meteorological, and hydrological, mostly in close collaboration with scientific teams from other countries. As the 19th century ended, Germany began to focus on Antarctica. The first German expedition to Antarctica was the Gauss expedition from 1901 to 1903. Led by Arctic veteran and geology professor Erich von Drygalski, this was the second expedition to use a hot-air balloon in Antarctica. It also found and named Kaiser Wilhelm II Land. The second German Antarctic expedition (1911–1912) was led by Wilhelm Filchner with a goal of crossing Antarctica to learn if it was one piece of land. As happened with other such early attempts, the crossing failed before it even began. The expedition discovered and named the Luitpold Coast and the Filchner Ice Shelf. A German whaling fleet was put to sea in 1937 and, upon its successful return in early 1938, plans for a third German Antarctic expedition were drawn up. ==German Antarctic Expedition (1938–1939)==

The third German Antarctic Expedition (1938–1939) was led by arctic veteran Alfred Ritscher (1879–1963), a captain in the German Navy. The main purpose was to find an area in Antarctica for a German whaling station, as a way 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 tonnes annually. Besides the disadvantage of being dependent on imports, it was thought that Germany would soon be at war, which was considered to put too much strain on Germany's foreign currency reserves. In addition, there was a secret military assignment to explore the islands of Trindade and Martim Vaz for use as potential future naval bases. On 17 December 1938, the secret About a dozen -long aluminum darts, with steel cones and three upper stabilizer wings embossed with swastikas, were supposed to be airdropped onto the ice at turning points of the flight polygons (these darts had been tested on the Pasterze glacier in Austria before the expedition). Eight more flights were made to areas of keen interest, and on these trips some of the photos were taken with colour film by the geologist Ernst Herrmann. Altogether they flew over hundreds of thousands of square kilometers and took more than 16,000 aerial photographs, some of which were published after the war by Ritscher. The ice-free Schirmacher Oasis, which now hosts the Maitri and Novolazarevskaya research stations, was spotted from the air by Richard Heinrich Schirmacher (who named it after himself) shortly before Schwabenland left the Antarctic coast on 6 February 1939. On its return trip to Germany, the expedition made oceanographic studies near Bouvet Island and Fernando de Noronha, arriving back in Hamburg on 11 April 1939. Meanwhile, the Norwegian government had learned about the expedition through the director of the NSIU, Adolf Hoel, who heard of the news by chance, from Ernst Hermann's wife. Furthermore the Norwegian government had received reports from whalers along the coast of Queen Maud Land. Germany never advanced any territorial claims to the region. ==Geographic features mapped by the expedition==

Because the area was first explored by a German expedition, the name Neuschwabenland (New Swabia) is still used for the region on some maps, as are many of the German names given to its geographic features. Some geographic features mapped by the expedition were not named until the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic Expedition (NBSAE) (1949–1952), led by John Schjelderup Giæver. Others were not named until they were remapped from aerial photographs taken by the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition (1958–1959). The exact location of objects in italics could not yet be determined because the position was given too imprecisely in the expedition report due to navigation problems with the aircraft, and most of the aerial photographs that would have allowed identification were lost during World War II. The names of objects that could be clearly located were used in the Norwegian translation of the topographical map Dronning Maud Land 1:250,000 published by the Norwegian Polar Institute in 1966. Aftermath Germany made no formal territorial claims to New Swabia. No whaling station or other lasting bases were built there by Germany, and no permanent presence was established until the Georg von Neumayer Station, a research facility, was opened in 1981. Germany's current Neumayer Station III is also located in the region. Although New Swabia is occasionally mentioned in historical contexts, it is not an officially recognized cartographic designation today. The region is part of Queen Maud Land, administered by Norway as a dependent territory under the Antarctic Treaty System, and overseen by the Polar Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice and the Police. == Conspiracy theories ==

Neuschwabenland has been the subject of conspiracy theories for decades, some of them related to Nazi UFO claims. Most assert that, in the wake of the German expedition of 1938–39, a huge military base was built there. After the war, high-ranking Nazis, scientists, and elite military units are claimed to have survived there. The US and UK have supposedly been trying to conquer the area for decades, and to have used nuclear weapons in this effort. Proponents claim the base is sustained by hot springs providing energy and warmth. The WDR radio play Neuschwabenland-Symphonie from 2012 takes up the conspiracy theories. ==See also==

• Murphy, D.T. (2002). German exploration of the polar world. A history, 1870–1940 Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press. , ==External links==