Film and dinner with deer stew at the Ishavsmuseet
On Sunday 4 October, the Ishavsmuseet has unearthed an ever so small film treasure from the archive.
The film that will be shown in the conference hall this day is about the first Norwegian expedition that took aerial photographs of East Greenland in the summer of 1932. The film will be shown at 14 pm and 15 pm.
This summer expedition in 1932 and the aerial photographs were undoubtedly a strategically important part of the Norwegian effort to win both sympathy and progress for Norway's right to this land area. A land area that meant so much to Norwegian trappers.
The ship chosen for this expedition was the flagship of the newly established limited liability company A/S Polarbjørn, in which Peter S. Brandal and the Bergen firm GC Rieber & Co A/S were the main shareholders. "Polarbjørn" was the stoutest and best ship in the Polarbjørn company at the time.
For aerial photography, they had a single-engine Lockheed aircraft, named "Qarrtsiluni" (LN-ABD), which Consul Lars Christensen in Sandefjord made available. For aerial observations and reconnaissance, the expedition also had a double-decker, type Spartan (LN-ABG), which factory owner Joh. H. Andresen of Tiedemans Tobaksfabrik A/S arranged by providing significant financial support to the expedition.
Aerial photography was one of the expedition's main tasks. But the expedition also brought with it scientists with many other important tasks in Eirik Raude's country: geology, zoology, oceanography, botany, astronomy and archaeology. Not to forget the young Norwegian governor, Helge Ingstad. Yes, the expedition also included a painter who complemented the ground-based photographic observations.
In addition to all this, the "Polar Bear" also carried relief workers for the many Norwegian trapping stations – and not least dogs for these stations. In total, there were 54 men on board the ship – but there was only room for 42.
The museum's restaurant serves deer stew this Sunday from 13-17 p.m.
