Treasure digger weather station

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Under the name Schatzgräber , a weather station was operated by the Kriegsmarine in the north of the island of Alexandraland in the Franz Josef Land archipelago from September 1943 during the Second World War . “Treasure diggers” provided the German Wehrmacht with current weather data from the Arctic . She was evacuated in July 1944 due to illness after consuming raw meat.

Weather stations in the Arctic Ocean

Since the beginning of the war, the Navy , which was responsible for collecting meteorological data during the war, had ensured this through weather observation ships (often converted fishing trawlers). At the suggestion of Hans-Robert Knoespel , however, from 1941, also under the impression of lost weather ships , the construction of weather stations on the mainland was planned and carried out. The first German weather station in the Arctic Ocean, "Knospe" , was set up in October 1941 on Svalbard.

"Treasure digger" weather party

In order to prepare the participants of the weather teams for the conditions in the area of ​​operation, the marine weather service under the direction of Knoespel set up the Goldhöhe training center in the Giant Mountains . In 1943 there were hardly any alpine or arctic experienced workers to be found among the German specialists in question, so the “Goldhöhe” was used during this time to bring in inexperienced meteorologists and train them under arctic conditions. Heinz Schmidt was initially chosen as the head of the planned weather squad. However, he suffered considerable injuries as a result of a skiing accident during his training on the "Goldhöhe" and was replaced by the assistant government councilor Walter Drees, who had already gained experience in the Arctic under Knoespel at the Knospe weather squad. Contrary to previous practice, the weather troop was not named after the leader. For reasons of secrecy, the company was named "Schatzgräber" after the training manager of the "Goldhöhe", H. Schatz , who was supposed to be in charge of the "Bass violinist" weather group in north-east Greenland at the same time .

Structure of the company

The head of the “Treasure digger” weather team, Walter Drees, was responsible for three auxiliary inspectors from the weather service and a technician. A military unit led by Lieutenant Makus, who was subordinate to two radio mates and two corporal officers, was assigned to the civilian experts.

The weather station on Alexandraland

At the beginning of September 1943, the weather observation ship Kehdingen ran out of Kiel with the crew of the “Schatzgräber” weather squad and most of the planned equipment . The journey to the place of operation ran via Narvik and Tromsø and reached Alexandraland on September 22nd, escorted by U 387 . With the help of the submarine crew, the equipment was unloaded and a weather station was set up. From November 17th, “Schatzgräber” finally reported weather observations (“Obse”) and temperatures (“Temps”). At the end of the polar night , “Schatzgräber” also began measuring high-altitude winds using radio-controlled balloons. Supplies were delivered by submarine (again U 387 ) or by parachute drop by a Focke-Wulf Condor .

The company fails

On May 30, 1944, the weather inspector Gerhard Wallik and the Marine Corporal Werner Blankenburg killed a polar bear , the meat of which was processed into minced meat by the latter - who was also the weather station's cook - and was eaten raw by the crew. This was due to the lack of supplies.

After a few days, Corporal Blankenburg, who had eaten most of the tartar, was the first to develop pain in his legs and a high fever. Within a month, nine other members of the weather team fell ill, with the exception of the paramedic Gerhard Hoffmann, who hadn't eaten the raw meat because he was a vegetarian . Trichinellosis was found by the medical service of the naval command in Oslo by radio remote diagnosis . The company was then canceled and an evacuation with a Focke-Wulf 200 Condor was ordered immediately.

Pick-up of the weather party "treasure hunter"

Focke-Wulf "Condor"

In order to provide adequate medical care for the sick weather crew, medical officer Dr. Wendt from the naval hospital in Tromsø. The plan was to parachute the doctor with a "Condor" (identification F8 + RL) from KG 40 under the command of the naval aviator Oberleutnant Stahnke (who had already undertaken supply flights for "treasure hunters"). Although this plan was drawn up and ordered in early July, the deployment was initially delayed; because the head of the station, Dr. Drees - who was no longer in his right mind at this point - radioed that such an operation, as well as a later pickup, was not necessary.

On July 7th, Oblt. Stahnke finally started with Dr. Wendt on board, who had familiarized himself with the principle of parachuting in a quick course and was now looking forward to his first jump. The doctor was spared this experience, however, because Oblt. Stahnke decided to land the “Condor” on Alexandraland, with the landing gear severely damaged. On July 8th, the rescue team arrived at the base of the “Treasure Graves” weather station and evacuated the crew. Dr. Drees, who refused to leave the station, told the rescue team: "... excessive insults ..." , was "... only partially responsive and appeared partially disoriented ..." and demanded: "... that 4 men would have to be shot ... " . The station manager was later able to contact Dr. Wendt - who was actually drawn to win the uncooperative Dr. Shoot Drees - be persuaded to leave the station.

The spare parts required for the repair could be dropped off at the station by parachute within a very short time, as a BV 222 (identifier X4 + BH) was moved from Biscarrosse on the Bay of Biscay to Banak for support purposes.

On July 11th, the “Condor” landed in Trondheim with a undercarriage that had been poorly repaired on Alexandraland and with all members of the “Treasure Trove” weather team on board .

Removal of the mine belt created there in 1990, more

The mine belt created to protect the weather station could not be removed while the weather team was being picked up. When the veterans of the company learned in the 1950s that the Soviet Union had now set up its own Nagurskaya weather station very close by, the Germans tried to contact the Soviet leadership to inform them of the location of the mines, but this was done by the Soviet side was ignored. It was not until 1990 that the mines were secured and defused by an expedition by the Norwegian Polar Institute . The old mine maps from the Treasure Trove Weather Troop served as the basis for this. One of the old German mines is on display in the Defense Museum in Oslo .

The runway built by the Condor crew was used by this Russian research station. For an Austro-Russian expedition in 1992 in memory of the discoverer Franz-Josef-Lands, Julius Payer , this formerly provisional runway was expanded and also used.

It was only in 2016 that Russian polar explorers found and documented the remains of the “treasure digger” station on Alexandraland.

Other Wehrmacht weather stations in the Arctic

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ the name is - as was later customary in all weather operations before "treasure diggers" - inspired by the name of the director: here H. Knoespel
  2. ↑ Russian Researchers Find A Secret Nazi-Era Arctic Weather Station. Retrieved July 19, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Sunday supplement of the "Donaukurier" from 21./22. July 2001, article "Company Treasure Trove" by Richard Auer
  4. ^ GKdoS report "On special operations picking up treasure graves" by Oblt. Stahnke
  5. ↑ See Daniel Lingenhöhl: Secret weather station of the Nazis in the Arctic rediscovered. On Spektrum.de (October 24, 2016).

Coordinates: 80 ° 51 '4.7 "  N , 47 ° 27" 55.4 "  E