Novara expedition

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cover picture of the first expedition report, 1861
Coca bush
150 years of circumnavigation of the SMS Novara , celebration of the Kuffner observatory in Vienna after a church painting - 2009

The Novara expedition ( 1857 - 1859 ) of the SMS Novara was the first and only circumnavigation of the Austrian Navy . Published as a bestseller in several languages, the scientific reports made the trip world famous.

Travel history

The voyage was carried out by the heavy frigate SMS Novara under the command of Commodore Bernhard von Wüllerstorf-Urbair , which had been converted for this purpose. The research trip, which was also prepared by the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Vienna and accompanied by scholars such as the geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter and the zoologist Georg von Frauenfeld , produced internationally recognized results.

The frigate left Trieste on April 30, 1857. Because of the calm , it was first towed by a steamship to the Strait of Messina . From there she sailed via Gibraltar , Madeira , Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope to the Indian Ocean . Between November 19 and December 1857, the expedition visited the islands of St. Paul (their highest point is now called Crête de la Novara.) And Amsterdam . It then went on via Ceylon and Madras to Singapore . The next stops on the trip were Java , Manila , Hong Kong , Shanghai and the Solomon Islands . On November 5, 1858 we arrived in Sydney , from where we started in Auckland and Tahiti . The return journey led via Valparaíso and around Cape Horn to the Azores . On August 26, 1859, after having covered 51,686 nautical miles in 551 days under sail, the Novara returned to Trieste after circumnavigating the world .

Initial investigations, especially on Saint Paul Island (French Southern and Antarctic Lands) , the Nicobar Islands and New Zealand created the basis for future geological research. The first geological mapping and deposit investigations by Hochstetter, who remained in New Zealand until October 1859, gave the starting point for intensive geoscientific exploration of this country. Hochstetter separated from the expedition, which was agreed between Governor George Edward Gray and the expedition leader, and later traveled back to Europe alone after exploring Australian gold fields in January 1860.

Oceanographic research, particularly in the southern Pacific , revolutionized oceanography and hydrography . The collections of botanical , zoological (26,000 specimens) and ethnological material brought along enriched the Austrian museums (especially the Natural History Museum Vienna ). The observations of terrestrial magnetism made during the entire course of the expedition decisively increased the scientific knowledge in this area. Finally, in 1860 , leaves of the coca bush that had been taken away made it possible to depict cocaine in pure form for the first time.

The scientific results of the voyage were published in a 21-volume work of the Vienna Academy of Sciences , Voyage of the Austrian frigate Novara around the earth (1861–1876), the first part of which is a description of the voyage (3 volumes, edited by Karl von Scherzer in 1861 –1862), illustrated with many woodcuts, was. An abridged two-volume “People's Edition” was published under the same title and was sold out within a year. In addition, results were published in the meeting reports of the Imperial Academy of Sciences .

So far, the explosive political background of the trip, the possible colonization of the Nicobars, which were then Danish-owned, has hardly been described. This aspect was largely ignored in the relevant publications after considerable upheavals in the monarchy. Only the book, published in 2010, deals with this in detail.

The scientific travel work

  • Descriptive part: (Karl von Scherzer, anonymous) Journey of the Austrian frigate Novara around the earth, in the years 1857–1859 under the orders of Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair. 3 volumes. Vienna, 1861, 1862, ( Volume 1 , 4th edition, Volume 2 , 4th edition ..)
  • Nautical-physical part: Geographical localization and flood observations. Magnetic observations. 1 volume. Vienna 1862–65, ( digitized version )
  • Statistical-commercial part: 2 volumes. Vienna 1864, 1865 (2nd linked edition in 1 vol. Leipzig, Vienna, Brockhaus 1867), ( Volume 1 , Volume 2 )
  • Zoological part: 6 volumes
  • Botanical part: Volume 1 (no longer published): Spore Plants: A. Grunow , Algae; A. von Krempelhuber , Lichenes; HW Reichardt, Fungi, Hepaticae et Musci Frondosi; G. Mettenius , Cryptogamae Vasculares; Julius Milde , Ophioglosseae and Equisetaceae. Vienna 1870
  • Medical part: 1st volume (no more published) v. Eduard Schwarz, Vienna 1861, ( digitized version )
  • Anthropological part: 3 volumes
    • 1st volume: E. Zuckerkandl, Cranien. Vienna 1875
    • 2nd volume: A. Weisbach, body measurements. Vienna 1867, ( digitized version )
    • 3rd volume: Friedrich Müller: Ethnography. Vienna 1868, ( digitized version )
  • Linguistic part: 1 volume. Friedrich Müller, Vienna 1867, ( digitized version )
  • Geological part: 2 volumes.

Museum reception

The Novara expedition represents the first circumnavigation of the world by an Austrian warship and is therefore documented in the naval hall of the Vienna Army History Museum . a. through watercolor studies by the painter Joseph Sellény , who took part in the trip and recorded countless impressions in watercolor studies . A 1:75 scale model of SMS Novara is also on display.

literature

  • Renate Basch-Ritter : The circumnavigation of the Novara 1857-1859. Austria on all seas. Academic Printing and Publishing Establishment, Graz 2008, ISBN 978-3-201-01904-0 .
  • Austrian South Pacific Society (OSPG), Institute for Ethnology, Cultural and Social Anthropology (Ed.): Austrians in the Pacific . Volume 1 + 2, OSPG , Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-9500765-0-6 / ISBN 3-9500765-1-4 .
  • Siegfried Rachewiltz, C. Kraus, V. Romen, Tiziano Rosani (eds.): SMS Novara. The free wide horizon. The Novara circumnavigated the world and Maximilian's Mexican dream. Südtiroler Landesmuseum Schloß Tirol, Meran 2004, (Exhibition of the Landesmuseum Schloß Tirol 10 July - 14 November 2004).
  • Alexander Randa: Austria overseas. Herold, Vienna / Munich 1966.
  • Christa Riedl-Dorn: The House of Miracles. On the history of the Natural History Museum in Vienna. Holzhausen, Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-900518-91-2 .
  • Christa Riedl-Dorn: botanists - plant hunters - schemers. The role of botany in the circumnavigation of the world by the frigate “Novara” (1857–1859). In: Ingrid Kästner et al. (Ed.): Exploring, collecting, noting and communicating - science in the luggage of traders, diplomats and missionaries. Shaker Verlag, Aachen 2014, ISBN 978-3-8440-2725-9 , pp. 373-394.
  • Karl Scherzer : The circumnavigation of the "Novara" 1857–59 . Edited, edited and commented on by Günter Zeiten. Molden, Vienna a. a. 1973, ISBN 3-217-00543-0 .
  • David GL Weiss , Gerd Schilddorfer: Novara - Austria's dream of world power. Amalthea, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-85002-705-2 .
  • Johann Wagner: Austrian colonial attempts in the second half of the nineteenth century. Vienna 1955 ( dissertation at the University of Vienna ).
  • Friedrich Wallisch : His ship was called Novara. Bernhard von Wüllerstorf , admiral and minister. Herold, Vienna 1966.
  • Ferdinand Hochstetter: Collected travel reports from the frigate “Novara” (1857–1859) circumnavigated the world . Eduard Hölzel, Vienna 1885, digitized

Web links

Commons : Novara (ship)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Journey of the Austrian frigate Novara around the earth in the years 1857, 1858, 1859  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Only these two scientists could be nominated by the academy. The remaining five were ordered through political channels.
  2. ↑ Novara Expedition . In: Brockhaus Konversations-Lexikon 1894–1896, Volume 12, p. 468.
  3. ↑ Weiss / Schilddorfer, p. 49, quotes the introduction to Scherzer's work, written by the Commodore of the expedition, 1861.
  4. ↑ Albert Schedl, Thomas Hofmann (Red.): "No limits". Research by employees of the Geological Reichsanstalt / Federal Institute outside Europe . Reports of the Geol. Bundesanstalt No. 62, Vienna 2005, pp. 37–40.
  5. ^ Weiss / Schilddorfer, 2010.
  6. ↑ Published in several editions.
  7. ^ Manfried Rauchsteiner , Manfred Litscher (Ed.): The Army History Museum in Vienna. Graz, Vienna 2000, p. 32.