Eduard Dallmann – From Whaler to Pole Explorer

born: 11.3.1830 in Flehte, near Blumenthal (now part of Bremen)
died: 23.12.1896 in Blumenthal 

Eduard Dallmann was a mere 15 years old when he first went to sea. He soon gathered experience on whaling ships and freighters. In 1859, now a captain, he started out on his first voyage to the Pacific to catch whales. Many more whaling expeditions were to follow. In 1873, he took command of the steamer "Grönland", setting out for the Antarctic Peninsula on another whaling expedition. In doing so, Dallmann was leading the first German voyage to the Antarctic, in the course of which a wealth of geographic discoveries were made. 

Soon afterwards, Dallmann was back in the northern hemisphere, where he played a key role in improving access to Siberia in the period between 1877 and 1884. Among other activities in this context, he attempted to establish a sea route to the estuaries of the Rivers Ob and Yenisey in Siberia. 

In 1884, he entered the service of the "New Guinea Company" and explored the coastlines of New Guinea. Health problems, as well as bitterness over the despotism and injustice of Germany's colonial activities induced Dallmann to end his professional career in 1894. 

The Dallmann Laboratory, which was opened in 1994 on King George Island, was named after him.