Georg Forster Station

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Georg Forster Station

Coordinates: 70 ° 47 ′  S , 11 ° 51 ′  E

Relief Map: Antarctica
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Georg Forster Station​
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Antarctic
Souvenir envelope with the image of the research station "Georg Forster" and a special postmark on the subject of "GDR Antarctic Research" with a penguin motif from 1984
Passed letter of the 3rd GDR Antarctic expedition from the director Gerhard Schlosser to the Academy of Sciences of the GDR in June 1990

The Georg Forster station was the first German Antarctic station . It was put into operation on April 21, 1976 by the German Democratic Republic (GDR). The year-round manned station was located near the Soviet Novolasarewskaya station in the Schirmacher oasis in New Swabia . It was named in 1987 after Georg Forster , James Cook's German travel companion , who was the first German to set foot on Antarctic soil in South Georgia on January 17, 1775 .

History and tasks

Initially, research was mainly carried out on the high atmosphere in the station . From 1985 the focus of the research was on the investigation of the ozone hole . The station ceased operations in February 1993. The last “overwintering” of the station was Günter Stoof in 1991/92. From 1993 to 1996 the station was dismantled in three steps and the area cleared of garbage and scrap. All parts were completely dismantled and transported away by ship. During this time, close cooperation with the Russian colleagues at the Novolasarewskaya station intensified. A memorial stone, initiated by the East German expedition members, commemorates the station as a memorial to HSM-87 under the protection of the Antarctic Treaty .

description

The station consisted of ten work and living containers, a diesel generator station with two units each of 45 kVA and 38 kVA, the radio station Y3ZA with a 1 kW shortwave transmitter of the type RFT KSG1300 and a geomagnetic registration station. In the summer season, up to 15 scientists and technicians could find space in the base. It formed the logistical basis for investigations into geo, cryo and atmospheric research in the central Queen Maud Land . The GDR postal administration issued a special postage stamp with a picture of the station in 1988 and the scientists there used a special postmark.

literature

  • Gert Lange (Ed.): Probation in Antarctica. Antarctic research in the GDR. FA Brockhaus Verlag Leipzig 1982
  • Gert Lange: Sun, storm and white darkness. The Chronicle of East German Antarctic Research. (= Writings of the German Maritime Museum, Volume 43) Ernst Kabel Verlag Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-8225-0334-7

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