100 years of Meteor: Explore the expedition interactively

Steve Nicklas, NOS, NGS - http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/ship3023.htm
The Meteor of the German Meteor expedition

From Geomar

 

100 Years of Meteor: Explore the Expedition Interactively
Interactive Storymap by GEOMAR and the German Maritime Museum 

 

One hundred years ago, the research vessel Meteor set sail to systematically explore the Atlantic Ocean – one of the most important expeditions of the 20th century.
To mark the anniversary, the Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum (DSM)/Leibniz-Institut für Maritime Geschichte opened the exhibition “Land gewinnen – Die Deutsche Atlantische Expedition von 1925 bis 1927” at the end of June 2025.
GEOMAR Helmholtz-Zentrum für Ozeanforschung Kiel supports the exhibition with original photographic negatives, exhibits, and interviews with GEOMAR scientists to place the research in a modern context.
In addition, GEOMAR and DSM have jointly launched an interactive storymap: Exactly 100 years ago today, on 18 October 1925, the researchers discovered the so-called Meteor Bank, a formation on the seafloor, on their route from Buenos Aires to Cape Town.
The diary entries by captain Fritz Spieß allow the expedition to be traced station by station.

 

Planned routeing of the expedition Alfred Merz, 1925

 A. Merz - F. Spieß: Die Meteor-Fahrt

Original plan for the Deutschen Atlantische Expeditio 1925-27

 

In the spring of 1925, Meteor (I) set sail and covered 67,535 nautical miles across the Atlantic within two years – roughly the equivalent of three circumnavigations of the globe.
During this time, the ship crossed the South Atlantic 14 times.
Using innovative measuring methods, the researchers mapped the seafloor, analyzed currents, and even attempted to extract gold from the ocean.
The voyage marked the transition from purely descriptive oceanography to the analytical oceanography practiced today.

The Meteor Expedition from Today’s Perspective

In 2023, GEOMAR handed over original photographs of the Meteor expedition to the DSM/Leibniz Institute for Maritime History in Bremerhaven.
The images presumably came to the then Institute of Marine Science – a predecessor of GEOMAR – during the Second World War.
They are now part of the exhibition “Land gewinnen – Die Deutsche Atlantische Expedition von 1925 bis 1927” at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven, which opened in the summer of 2025 to mark the centenary of the Meteor expedition.
In addition to donating the glass plate negatives, GEOMAR is supporting the exhibition with numerous loans.
Moreover, GEOMAR scientists provide short interviews to contextualize the research from today’s perspective.
An interactive map tells the story of the voyage through original texts, photographs, and current commentary.

Interactive Storymap

To accompany the exhibition at the German Maritime Museum/Leibniz Institute for Maritime History, GEOMAR and DSM have developed an interactive storymap that is now available online.
It links the ship’s route with diary entries by Captain Fritz Spieß, original photographs, and present-day scientific commentary.
In this way, the Meteor voyage is brought to life in a modern context 100 years later.
In addition to its scientific aims, the expedition also pursued a political goal: it was a means to strengthen Germany’s international presence after the First World War.
Numerous stopovers, especially in former German colonies, were therefore integrated into the voyage.
DSM historians provide critical commentary on this aspect.

Marine Research 100 Years Ago

During the two-year expedition, the researchers carried out around 67,000 echo soundings.
The resulting higher-resolution image of the seafloor revealed the Mid-Atlantic Ridge clearly for the first time.
At over 300 stations, the scientists conducted chemical, physical, and biological investigations, accompanied by atmospheric measurements.
Their work made it possible, among other things, to demonstrate the exchange of water between the current systems of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

18 October 1925: Discovery of the Meteor Bank

Exactly 100 years ago today, on 18 October 1925, the crew detected a formation on the seafloor with the echo sounder, which they named the “Meteor Bank.”

It was not entirely unknown at the time – but previously unnamed.

Captain Spieß wrote in his diary:
"In the morning, we locate a bank using echo sounder, and we set a depth of 800 meters and station 65.
We then name the bank “Meteor Bank” or “Meteor Ridge,” in keeping with yesterday's Bouvet Ridge (named Meteor-Bouvet in 1870).
We sound the bank; it is a perfect cone rising to 590 meters.
In the mess hall, we celebrate the bank and Meier's birthday belatedly.
In the afternoon and at night, we sound the bank.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
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Further discoveries, insights into life on board, and commentary from a contemporary perspective can be explored in the storymap “100 Jahre Meteor-Expedition.”