Polar research – “A very magical year”

Do you sometimes miss Antarctica?

I always miss the ice and actually my team too, although I also think it’s very nice here.

How did you come up with the idea of ​​wintering in the southern polar region?

I’ve always wanted to go to Spitsbergen, the far north, since I was a child, but no one ever wanted to come. After working incredibly hard for a few years as a senior physician at the University Hospital in Dresden, I had planned a sabbatical year. But shortly before that, my relationship fell apart and with it all of my plans. And then I remembered what I had always wanted to do and went to Alaska in the summer. Alone. I was still in Norway in the winter, but that wasn’t enough. Antarctica just popped up during a Google search. I found out about the research work of the Alfred Wegener Institute and was totally thrilled.

How long do you spend overwintering at the research station of the Alfred Wegener Institute and how much of that time is spent in a small group?

You’re there for a year. In the summer, when Antarctica is accessible for about four months, there are about 50 people on the station. There are a lot of different research projects going on there, as well as construction and maintenance work. Almost everyone leaves around the end of February, leaving the overwintering team of usually nine people. So four scientists, three from technology, a chef and a doctor. And they hold the fort for the rest of the year, operate the long-term observatories and keep the station running technically. No one can be evacuated for seven months, not even if someone is seriously injured or if someone goes crazy.

You were there as a doctor, that is, for everything that has to do with medicine. And you were also a station manager…

Exactly. So not in a scientific and technical sense. But someone is responsible. There are also small tasks such as fire protection, water hygiene and site safety, and I have supervised studies on space medicine for NASA and the University of Munich. It’s a colorful bouquet. Fortunately, as a doctor you don’t have enough to do. And of course I had to constantly maintain and care for the entire hospital. That’s a lot of work, which is always done by others here in Germany.

What were the most challenging situations on site?

Despite all the enthusiasm, arriving is also a shock because Antarctica has such a starkly alien atmosphere. It somehow overwhelmed me, even though I thought it was beautiful. And then you don’t know how to dress, how to move? Where can I run without falling into a crevasse? What is socially acceptable in this station? In winter, storms often reach hurricane force. So you have to imagine a car driving 120 or faster and you’re standing on the roof. Otherwise it was actually a very soft, harmonious and completely magical year.

In your book you emphasize how important the team is. What do you have to pay attention to when you are so dependent on each other in a small group?

I can at least say what worked well for us. It may be that another group has a completely different dynamic. From my experience I would say: be gentle. Let others be who they are and don’t re-educate them. If we put our skills and our character traits together, then it will be really good. I wouldn’t have wanted to overwinter with nine Aurelias. The diversity makes it, but also the understanding that people are really completely different. And of course the important thing is to support each other, do nice things, have fun, enjoy, be amazed, go crazy, do nonsense and even celebrate sometimes. Cheerfulness and joint actions are very important.

What was life like without money and supermarkets?

I thought it would feel quite sensational to live without money. But it was like we had always done this. You really forgot about money. We had what we had and what was over was over. And that’s not a bad thing at all. So on the contrary, it’s actually fun because you really celebrate the last carrot that you can tie a knot in because it’s so rubbery. You have a lot of scope, even without money and without being able to shop.

How many months have you spent in complete darkness?

The polar night lasts two months and is actually the most beautiful time of the year. At dusk at noon the whole world becomes colorful, bright pink and orange. There’s nothing dangerous about the darkness there. There are no animals, no villains, no wars, no viruses, no highway accidents. There is ice and light and wind and lots of penguins and nine people who, when things go well, are well-disposed towards each other.

Are concrete effects of global warming already being felt in Antarctica?

The observatories we operate there are designed for long time scales. You don’t necessarily find something new in a year, but it’s about looking at what are just short-term fluctuations and what are long-term changes. And on Neumayer itself the temperatures are relatively stable due to the local air currents. But there are large parts of the Arctic where climate change has long since arrived. Huge areas are melting in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula. And at the end of our year in the second summer, the sea ice cover was at a record minimum.

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What was it like for you to return to your old life after the year?

This is an extreme change. We also know from space research that there are actually three moments during hibernation when the body releases a lot of stress hormones. These are the arrival, the polar night and the return. Of course it’s wonderful to see loved ones again, the family, to go into the forest again and see plants. But our civilized world is so dense and hectic and tense. You can’t stand it well if you’ve just spent the winter. Corona caught me here on the fourth day. At first I was lying in the nest and it wasn’t all that bad because I was able to sort myself out in peace. It took months before I could really adjust again.

You have written a very inspiring book, but is it actually good to get people excited about Antarctica? In the end, we want as few people as possible to go there.

Of course I am not in favor of tourism in Antarctica. Not even if it excludes me with my longing to go there again. It’s just an incredibly fragile ecosystem. The intention of the book is to take people who can’t spend the winter but who are interested in it there simply through my experiences. They can, so to speak, free ride in my head and experience my feelings, my amazement and also the moments of being overwhelmed.