Georg von Neumayer

Georg Balthazar von Neumayer (21 June 1826 – 24 May 1909) was a German polar explorer and scientist who was a proponent of the idea of international cooperation for meteorology and scientific observation.

In 1900 he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown with the associated title of Ritter von Neumayer.

Born in Kirchheimbolanden, Palatinate, Neumayer was the fifth child of notary Georg and his wife Theresia, née Kirchner.

[2] After trying his fortune on the goldfields, Neumayer gave lectures on navigation to seamen, and spent some time in Tasmania at the observatory in Hobart.

He returned to Germany in 1854 convinced that Australia offered a great field for scientific exploration, obtained the support of the King of Bavaria and encouragement from leading British scientists.

[4] He was also involved in continuing studies begun earlier to drop bottles with messages to reconstruct currents based on recoveries.

[11] In the same year, Neumayer was designated a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown, including the right to furthermore have his surname preceded by 'Ritter von' ('Knight of').

This year-round manned station is totally covered with ice and snow (buried 10 meters under the surface) and is situated in the Weddell-Sea area (08 15W, 70 35S).

Research topics are permanent observations of the Earth's magnetic field, seismological registrations, infrasonic, meteorological and air chemistry investigations.