NL001-004_090

Source: Alfred Wegener, Tagebücher, June 1906 – August 1908. DMA NL 001/004.

[090] 18.I.07. Jetzt sind wir wieder in unserer natürlichen Ordnung angelangt, aber gestern hatten wir Schneesturm bei sehr starkem Barometerfall und sehr hoher Temperatur. Auch heute fällt das Barometer von neuem und es beginnt wieder Schneetreiben, so daß wir das spärliche Tageslicht noch nicht ausnutzen können. Dafür werden wir aber hoffentlich einige meteorologische Musterdaten erhalten. Das magnetische Registrierinstrument funktioniert jetzt dauernd gut, es hat ja aber auch bei der hohen Temperatur keine Veranlassung, stehen zu blieben. Hagerup hat die letzten Kurven entwickelt, es sind einige interessante Störungen darauf zu

[090] 18/1/07. We have now gotten back to our usual routine, but yesterday we had a snowstorm with a very sharp drop of the barometer and very high temperatures. The barometer has fallen again today and snow flurries have started again, which means that we cannot yet make use of the meager daylight. But hopefully we will be able to gather some basic meteorological data instead. The magnetic recording device is now working continuously well, although it does not have cause to break down in these high temperatures. Hagerup has developed the last curves, and there are several interesting disturbances

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The Wegener Diaries: Scientific Expeditions into the Eternal Ice

This virtual exhibition sheds light on Alfred Wegener’s expeditions to Greenland between 1906 and 1931. Its main focus is on the diaries Wegener wrote during his explorations, which offer unique insights into the manifold challenges man and material faced in Greenland’s extreme environments. You may choose to read the diaries in their original state, or browse the expeditions individually and read transcribed and translated excerpts by clicking on the individual chapters.

This version, published in 2020, includes minor updates to the original 2013 virtual exhibition. PDFs of the virtual exhibition, as well as original scans and transcripts of the Wegener Diaries, can be found at the exhibition’s PDF Depot.

Christian Kehrt

About the author

Kehrt, Christian

Christian Kehrt works in the fields of environmental history, military history, and the history of science and technology. He studied history and philosophy in Tübingen and Stony Brook, NY. His PhD “Moderne Krieger. Die Technikerfahrungen deutscher Militärpiloten, 1910–1945” deals with flying experiences of military pilots in the age of the two world wars. It was completed as part of the postgraduate research program “Technology and Society” at the Technical University Darmstadt and received the Werner-Hahlweg-Prize for military history, the Georg-Agricola Prize and the prize for young scholars of the German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics. As a postdoc he worked at the Deutsches Museum in Munich on a project on the origins of nanotechnology. In 2009/10 he was a Carson Fellow at the Rachel Center for Environment and Society. Currently he is pursuing a habilitation project on polar exploration in the period of the Cold War at the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg where he holds a position as a research associate.

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The Wegener Diaries: Scientific Expeditions into the Eternal Ice

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