All of a sudden I found myself in the Northernmost settlement of mankind: Ny Ålesund, maybe the world’s most significant polar station on the arctic archipelago of Svalbard. From here, the scientific world is looking into the past and future of the Earth, in hopes of finding solutions to save mankind from extinction due to climate change.
I am a filmmaker and TV journalist by profession and it is in the DNA of that craft to be thrown into new worlds. One of those worlds is at 78° 55’30" N, 11° 55’20" E, just before the North Pole. Ny Ålesund is quite a special destination. Let me rephrase – it is actually a forbidden zone. Eventually only mad scientists and journalists are allowed on the island and come by strict invitation only. I got cosy with the German polar institute AWI, which is running the polar station AWIPEV, together with their French polar friends. With a little bit of zigzagging, I had my ticket. The support of Innovation Norway Hamburg and the Norwegian embassy in Berlin was also vital for one of my most exclusive journalistic endeavours ever.
Svalbard is a series of islands.Their geological origin can be traced around the equator and it wandered over time to the most Northern tip of the planet. Its past is quite essential, but I will get to that in just a bit. The archipelago was mostly neglected by men over the centuries, because it was just a collection of rock and ice. It’s been said that Scandinavians have discovered the islands as early as the 12th century and called it Svalbarð, which literally means cold shores. In 1596 It was rediscovered by the Dutch sailor Willem Barentz and hence it also bears the name Spitsbergen (or in German – Spitzbergen), which means pointed mountains.
Trappers started to hunt and whalefishers started to have their outposts on Svalbard. In the Svalbard treaty of 1920 the islands were put under Norwegian rule, but it is rather more the administration. Their is a Russian mining town called Barentzburg (named after the Dutch who discovered Svalbard) which I would love to see on my next trip. That Svalbard is politically its own entity and visa free. Despite the cold temperatures many immigrate to Svalbard to have a better life. Ny Ålesund was founded in 1917 by the mining company Kings Bay. Because the landmass originated around the equator it has very valuable coal in the ground. But after an accident 1962 mining became to dangerous and it was abandoned. Bit by bit the town became a research area. In 1992 it became the scientific settlement it is today!
It is already a little adventure to get to Ny Ålesund, the worlds most Northern settle. First you have to fly to Svalbards biggest settlement Longyearbyen. From there you have to jump on another cute 14 seat plane. This little sucker only flies twice a week to Ny Ålesund and costs around 500 Euros per person for a 45 minute flight. Because of customs we almost missed two of our flights, which would have brought the whole mission to a stop. When we arrived in Longyearbyen it was first said, that the Ny Ålesund flight was postponed for two days, because of a frozen landing strip.
But after a short pit stop in a hotel, we had to rush to the airport and Ny Ålesund was go go go. You have direct sight of the cockpit and the passengers and weight has to be perfectly balanced. We had a limit of 20 kilos each, which was a real challenge for shooting equipment. You really start to limit your shampoo and clothes to little packages. If you would have too much weight, it is kept at the airport. After that, we soon dipped into complete darkness, floating in the sky. While flying to Ny Ålesund it was too hectic for taking pictures, but on my flight back I had some time, especially for the polar bear warning signs at the Airport in Longyearbyen..
A very important figure for Ny Alesund is Roald Amundsen. This Norwegian adventurer looked like a rock and was possible the first ever human who reached the South Pole and North Pole. He is a Norwegian hero. While it makes instantly sense while Svalbard is under Norwegian sovereignty in the Northern hemisphere. It is only due to Amundsen’s mission at the South Pole that there is also a territory under Norwegian control in Antarctica.
I am a filmmaker and TV journalist by profession and it is in the DNA of that craft to be thrown into new worlds. One of those worlds is at 78° 55’30" N, 11° 55’20" E, just before the North Pole. Ny Ålesund is quite a special destination. Let me rephrase – it is actually a forbidden zone. Eventually only mad scientists and journalists are allowed on the island and come by strict invitation only. I got cosy with the German polar institute AWI, which is running the polar station AWIPEV, together with their French polar friends. With a little bit of zigzagging, I had my ticket. The support of Innovation Norway Hamburg and the Norwegian embassy in Berlin was also vital for one of my most exclusive journalistic endeavours ever.
Svalbard is a series of islands.Their geological origin can be traced around the equator and it wandered over time to the most Northern tip of the planet. Its past is quite essential, but I will get to that in just a bit. The archipelago was mostly neglected by men over the centuries, because it was just a collection of rock and ice. It’s been said that Scandinavians have discovered the islands as early as the 12th century and called it Svalbarð, which literally means cold shores. In 1596 It was rediscovered by the Dutch sailor Willem Barentz and hence it also bears the name Spitsbergen (or in German – Spitzbergen), which means pointed mountains.
Trappers started to hunt and whalefishers started to have their outposts on Svalbard. In the Svalbard treaty of 1920 the islands were put under Norwegian rule, but it is rather more the administration. Their is a Russian mining town called Barentzburg (named after the Dutch who discovered Svalbard) which I would love to see on my next trip. That Svalbard is politically its own entity and visa free. Despite the cold temperatures many immigrate to Svalbard to have a better life. Ny Ålesund was founded in 1917 by the mining company Kings Bay. Because the landmass originated around the equator it has very valuable coal in the ground. But after an accident 1962 mining became to dangerous and it was abandoned. Bit by bit the town became a research area. In 1992 it became the scientific settlement it is today!
It is already a little adventure to get to Ny Ålesund, the worlds most Northern settle. First you have to fly to Svalbards biggest settlement Longyearbyen. From there you have to jump on another cute 14 seat plane. This little sucker only flies twice a week to Ny Ålesund and costs around 500 Euros per person for a 45 minute flight. Because of customs we almost missed two of our flights, which would have brought the whole mission to a stop. When we arrived in Longyearbyen it was first said, that the Ny Ålesund flight was postponed for two days, because of a frozen landing strip.
But after a short pit stop in a hotel, we had to rush to the airport and Ny Ålesund was go go go. You have direct sight of the cockpit and the passengers and weight has to be perfectly balanced. We had a limit of 20 kilos each, which was a real challenge for shooting equipment. You really start to limit your shampoo and clothes to little packages. If you would have too much weight, it is kept at the airport. After that, we soon dipped into complete darkness, floating in the sky. While flying to Ny Ålesund it was too hectic for taking pictures, but on my flight back I had some time, especially for the polar bear warning signs at the Airport in Longyearbyen..
A very important figure for Ny Alesund is Roald Amundsen. This Norwegian adventurer looked like a rock and was possible the first ever human who reached the South Pole and North Pole. He is a Norwegian hero. While it makes instantly sense while Svalbard is under Norwegian sovereignty in the Northern hemisphere. It is only due to Amundsen’s mission at the South Pole that there is also a territory under Norwegian control in Antarctica.
To be continued...
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