Who in his youth was fond of books about the polar voyages of the Norwegian traveller Roald Amudsen (like me), you should visit the exhibition “Naar Antarctica” at the MAS Museum in Antwerp. The focus of the exhibition is not on his personality, of course, but on the story of the ship “Belgica”, which left Antwerp on 16 August 1897 and headed for Antarctica. The story is fascinating and wonderfully presented by the curators of our Museum on the River – through photographs, drawings and diaries, authentic exhibits (from the museum’s collection) – like the ship’s steering wheel, sledges and clothing, as well as ice saws and much more. The smallest piece in the exhibit is an “Antarctic fly” measuring 3 inches. The team brought home a large collection of unique plants and wildlife. Also preserved was a barrel organ, to which the ship used to have small parties with “La Brabançonne”, the Belgian anthem. The crew of the “Belgica” was international, numbering 19 people. Among them was Amudsen, who a quarter of a century later published a memoir in which he claimed that at some point he took over the management of the ship.
It is a good time to talk about the remarkable man, Captain Adrien de Gerlache, who organised the expedition, assembled the crew and found the money for it. At that time, King Leopold II of Belgium thought only about his own, in the literal sense of the word, Congo and did not allocate money for such an expedition. Adrien attracted sponsors, including “Mère Antarctique” – Léonie Osterrit, who did everything to raise money: a masquerade ball in the city park, cycling races, military parades and fireworks – for which she got her nickname.
It manages to collect 5 thousand Belgian francs, a decent sum. The sailors are not so much for the money as for the adventure. The youngest, Johan Koren, was barely 17. The aim of the voyage was to reach the South Magnetic Pole.
The ship’s doctor Frederick Cook (not to be confused with eaten by the aborigines of Australia) saved the entire crew from death by making them eat raw penguin meat. Unpalatable, but necessary. “The Belgica is stuck in the ice for 13 months and food supplies run out. 70 days of polar night without a ray of light left many depressed, but the crew held on. Dr Cook also took the atmospheric photographs featured in the exhibition. I couldn’t get rid of the thought that somewhere I had met one of the youngest members of the team in one photo, so modern looking is his face. It turned out to be mechanical engineer Max Van Wisselberg. 100 years ago people looked different, we know it from the photos of grandmothers and grandfathers. But Max looks like he’s from Netflix. There is a brief description about all the team members on the back of the original rotating photo.
The expedition was a feat and an example of survival. To free themselves, the expedition members did the impossible: with great perseverance, they cut their way through the ice to free their ship. Shortly before the start of the second Arctic winter, the ship sailed back to Belgium. During the expedition, the crew was engaged in scientific research, collecting material. One of the most professional members of the crew E. Danko died of scurvy in June 1898, but has done a lot for scientific research. The crew was not supposed to spend the night in Antarctica and there were only 4 sets of polar clothes on board (-40 degrees) and they were made of red blankets. The black and white photos unfortunately do not convey its colour. A Norwegian sailor went crazy and tried to walk to Norway.
However, the situation on board was not desolate: Chief Mate Captain Lecoin held a “Great Female Beauty contest” and published an obscene handwritten magazine. The crew amused themselves as best they could. By the way, the crew domesticated a penguin and named him “Bebe”. “Greens” today would go mad with indignation.
The story of Roald Amudsen’s ascent aboard the “Belgica” – incidentally the first voyage of his life, with which his famous career began, but so far in a subordinate position – is as if taken from this frivolous magazine:
“In the winter of 1896-1897 the future polar explorer moved to Antwerp to study French and take a course in navigation. Here he had an affair with his landlady, who committed suicide on 24 March 1897, after which Amundsen had to hurriedly leave the city. On 16 September he left Antwerp for good with Captain Adrien de Gerlache’s crew.”
