1872
Roald Amundsen born July 16
“A very Gallant Gentleman”
Object reference: RA 0010
Materials: paper, glass, wood
Lawrence Oates was one of the four Britons who reached the South Pole with Robert Falcon Scott in January 1912, only to discover that Roald Amundsen had been there before them. On the way back, everyone died. According to Scott’s diary, Oates died March 16, 1912. Supposedly, he said this to the others in the tent: “I am just going outside and may be some time.” Then he left the tent and went out into the storm, never to be seen again.
This is a reproduction of John Charles Dollman’s painting from 1913, and shows Oates as he leaves the tent. Under the motif is written “he walked willingly to his death in a blizzard, to try and save his comrades, possessed by hardships”. It used to hang in the living room at Amundsen’s home, but has been moved to the blue living room, sometime around 1928.
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1910-12 Fram expedition. Photos of Fram
These photographs were discovered in a chest in an outbuilding at Uranienborg in 2015📜. Several show Fram during and after the 1910-12 expedition to Antarctica, while others show life on board. Also shown is the ceremony before Andreas Beck’s burial at sea in 1914.
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1910-12 Fram expedition. Photographs of Equator party, 2 October 1910
These photographs were discovered in a chest at Uranienborg in 2015 and show the festivities on board Fram during the Equator party en route to Antarctica. 📜
On 2 October 1910, the Fram expedition’s “crossing the line” celebrations saw the entire ship decorated with flags and banners. Coffee, wine and brandy were served with biscuits, and a show was arranged on deck. First came music from Knut Sundbeck and Kristian Prestrud with the mandolin, and even the dogs were invited to dance. Next on stage was Hjalmar Fredrik Gjertsen dressed in a white dress like a ballerina, followed by Captain Thorvald Nilsen, dressed in clogs, tie, hat and trousers and telling stories. From the gramophone that hung under the boom of the mainsail, songs such as “Ja, vi elsker” (Norway’s national anthem), “Dollarprinsessen”, “Les millions d’Arlequin”, “Graf von Luxemburg” and “The happy troll” rang out over the ocean.
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1912-14, the South Pole dog Obersten, photographs
Obersten (The Colonel) was one of three Greenland Dogs who came back to Norway after the Fram expedition. Obersten was the only one of these who in addition had been on the sledge journey all the way to the Pole, when he was part of Oscar Wisting‘s team.
After they arrived in Norway, Obersten and the other dogs lived for a time at Amundsen’s home in Svartskog, but during summer 1914 Obersten moved to Wisting’s home in Horten. When Obersten died is not known, but it was probably during 1919-20.
When the Ski Museum at Frognerseteren (today’s Holmenkollen) was to be established, Obersten’s skin was recovered and stuffed. Obersten is now on display at the Ski Museum in front of the tent and equipment from the South Pole expedition.
These photographs of Obersten and several of Amundsen’s other dogs were found in a chest at Uranienborg in 2015.
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Key from Rouen, France
Objectnumber: RA 0070
Length: Key: 19.5 cm
Width: Key: 5.0 cm
Length: Ribbon: 41.0 cm
Width: Ribbon: 3.0 cm
Materials: bronze, silk fabric
Amundsen received this key during his visit to Rouen, France 1912.
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Photo, overwintering in Framheim 1911
Objectnumber: RA 0351
Length: 22.5 cm
Width: 16.0 cm
Materials: glass, wood, paper
Group photo of the overwintering in Framheim 1911.
Jørgen Stubberud wrote a comment on the photo in Norwegian:
“Dete bilede blev tat under overvintringen i Framheim, 1911. Fra høire øverst ved bord Roald Amundsen, Jørgen Stubberud, Kristian Prestrud, Hjalmar Johansen. Øverst fra venstre Helmer Hansen, Oscar Wisting, Sverre Hassel, Olav Bjåland. Adolf Lindstrøm blev ikke med på bilede. Vi var i allt 9 mand i landparti som oppholt oss her et aar. Oslo 23-4-1945 Jørgen Stubberud.”
Translation: “The photograph was taken during the overwintering in Framheim, 1911. From the top right at the table Roald Amundsen, Jørgen Stubberud, Kristian Prestrud, Hjalmar Johansen. Top left Helmer Hansen, Oscar Wisting, Sverre Hassel, Olav Bjåland. Adolf Lindstrøm is not in the picture. We were a total of 9 men in the land party that stayed here one year. Oslo 23-4-1945 (April 4th 1945) Jørgen Stubberud .”
Click to read more about Framheim
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South Pole compass
Objectnumber: RA 0190
Lengde: Lokk: 14.5 cm
Bredde: Lokk: 11.8 cm
Materials: metal, wood
This compass is one of the four compasses that were used on the sleigh ride to the South Pole in 1911. One of the other compasses is today at the Polar Museum in Tromsø.
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The South Pole Plan
In 1908, Roald Amundsen presented a plan to explore and drift across the Arctic Ocean. Three years later he reached the opposite end of the world.
“I have never known any man to be placed in such a diametrically opposite position to the goal of his desires as I was at that moment,” he wrote later.
Join the drama that led up to the expedition and learn why Amundsen’s plans were turned upside down.
Canary, Fridtjof
Roald Amundsen received Fridtjof as a gift before leaving with the Fram–expedition in 1910. Apparently the canary began to sing as it came on board. It survived the voyage down to Antarctica, but died on the return journey, December 28, 1912. The chef on board, Adolf Henrik Lindstrøm, skinned it and send it to Norway, where it eventually got a permanent place on the piano at Amundsen’s home.
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1910–1912 Fram expedition
Personnel
The crew of the Fram expedition was originally selected to carry out a multi-year operation across the Arctic Ocean, but ended up going to Antarctica and the South Pole. The crew had varied backgrounds and experiences; many had spent large parts of their lives at sea, some had participated in polar expeditions, while others were selected because of their useful skills or as good skiers.
On arrival in the Bay of Whales in Antarctica, nine men were put ashore, while the rest of the crew completed the first oceanographic work in the Southern Ocean.
Framheim
Roald Amundsen. Expedition leader.
Sea party
Took some part
