Virgohamna.
Two Zodiacs brought us from M/S Brand to the shore.
This is the place where Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg took off in an attempt to reach the North Pole in a balloon. The Swedish expedition started on 11 July 1897, was forced to land on the ice three days later, and the members died on Kvitøya 400 km to the north-east in October. The remains of the expedition were not discovered until 1930.
The American journalist
Walter Wellman used lumber from Andrée's balloon house to
build a hangar which he used for a series of unsuccessful attempts
in 1906-1911 to reach the North Pole by Zeppelin.
Parts of one of Wellman's Zeppelin gondolas can be seen in this photo.
