As a young military officer, Filchner gained an early reputation for dash and daring, following his travel exploits in Russia and the Pamir Mountains range.

In 1909 he was appointed to organise and lead the forthcoming German expedition to the Antarctic, with both scientific and geographical objectives involving extensive exploration of the continent's interior.

During the expedition his ship became trapped in the Weddell Sea ice, drifting for eight months and preventing Filchner from establishing a land base, thus failing in its main objective.

Although important scientific results were obtained, the expedition was disrupted by serious interpersonal disagreements and lasting animosities, which harmed Filchner's reputation as a leader and ended his polar career.

He conducted two lengthy single-handed magnetic surveys in China and Tibet, often in difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions, and was continuing this work when the Second World War began, leaving him stranded in India.

[9] Two years later he made an expedition to the Pamir Mountains, which included a well-publicised horseback ride,[10] travelling from Osh in the Fergana Valley to Murghab in Tajikistan, and returning by way of Kashgar in Sinkiang.

[2] Between 1900 and 1903, he formed contacts with some of the leading travelling scientists of the day, including the Swede Sven Hedin, and Ferdinand von Richthofen from the University of Berlin.

[13] In 1903, with von Richthofen's recommendation, the army gave him leave to assume the leadership of a major scientific survey in Tibet and western China, extending to the upper reaches of the Hwang Ho river.

After the journey, Tafel missed few opportunities for insulting Filchner and undermining his authority as a leader, accusing him of cowardice and questioning the accuracy of his maps.

[17] Filchner's original plan envisaged two ships, with shore parties advancing inland respectively from Weddell and Ross Sea bases, to meet in the vicinity of the Pole.

[12] Her captain was to be a naval officer, Richard Vahsel, who had previous Antarctic experience,[19] but was by reputation a somewhat difficult and truculent character, "greedy for power and an out-and-out schemer".

[41] By this time the expedition's morale had largely collapsed as a result of the Vahsel Bay fiasco; the party had broken into factions, and hostility, recrimination and drunkenness, with threats of violence, became the norms.

[43] On 10 August Vahsel died (of heart failure likely aggravated by the effects of syphilis) [44] but the poisonous atmosphere continued under his replacement, first officer Wilhelm Lorenzen.

[51] During the First World War, Filchner served in the German army, mainly in military intelligence; in 1916 he was director of the marine interrogation service in Bergen, Norway.

[53] In this book Filchner barely mentions the interpersonal difficulties that marred and ultimately overwhelmed the expedition, instead producing a relatively straightforward account of its activities and achievements.

After many delays and obstructions, he reached the Kumbum Monastery on the China–Tibetan border, where he spent the winter of 1926–27 in conditions of ill-health and poverty, while awaiting further funds and permission to proceed.

[58] In April 1927 he received letters of commendation allowing him to travel into Tibet, and in June he set out, his destination being the Northern Indian town of Leh.

The journey became the subject of a film, Mönche, Tänzer und Soldaten ("Monks, Dancers and Soldiers"), a valuable documentary of monastic and other life of that time.

When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, Filchner decided to remain in Nepal, but in December 1940 his health failed, requiring him to seek medical treatment in India, where he was promptly interned.

In the course of his journeys he made important and lasting contributions to the cartography and magnetic measurements of Central Asia,[2] and his Antarctic expedition, despite its circumstances, produced significant scientific and geographical results.

[47][68] Filchner's background and military training had instilled a somewhat inflexible attitude, not conducive to successful teamwork, and created difficulties with interpersonal relationships.

[2] Murphy describes Filchner as "a bit stiff, something of a cold fish", and lacking the sense of humour and common touch which marked leaders such as Shackleton.

Lüdecke points out the marked successes of his later expeditions, which gained lavish praise from the Royal Geographical Society,[69] when he worked alone without the constraint of maintaining a collegial approach.