Led by Arctic veteran and geology professor Erich von Drygalski, this was the first expedition to use a hot-air balloon in Antarctica.

The second German Antarctic expedition (1911–1912) was led by Wilhelm Filchner with a goal of crossing Antarctica to learn if it was one piece of land.

The main purpose was to find an area in Antarctica for a German whaling station, as a way to increase Germany's production of fat.

On 19 January 1939, the ship arrived at the Princess Martha Coast, in an area which had lately been claimed by Norway as Queen Maud Land, and began charting the region.

Naming the area Neu-Schwabenland after the ship, the expedition established a temporary base and in the following weeks teams walked along the coast recording claim reservations on hills and other significant landmarks.

Seven photographic survey flights were made by the ship's two Dornier Wal seaplanes named Passat and Boreas.

[9] On its return trip to Germany, the expedition made oceanographic studies near Bouvet Island and Fernando de Noronha, arriving back in Hamburg on 11 April 1939.

[2][10] Shortly after the expedition's return, World War II broke out in Europe, with Germany occupying Norway in April of 1940.

Additionally, the fall of France to Germany later that year also technically brought the French Antarctic territory of Adélie Land under German influence.

The region is part of Queen Maud Land, administered by Norway as a dependent territory under the Antarctic Treaty System, and overseen by the Polar Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice and the Police.