We invite you to the next temporary exhibition this summer: Hrvati na Ledenom moru 1872. – 1874. / Croats on the Ice Sea 1872 – 1874 by the Quarneroli Lions Club from Lovran. This exhibition reveals the story of the Croatian mariners who took part in scientific research in the Arctic 1872 as part of the expedition of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. An impressive part of the exhibition is definitely the scalemodel of the Admiral Tegethoff – the ship built for the expedition. The model, built in a scale of 1:40 is the work of modeler Željko Skomeršić from Krk. On the same evening, the presentation of the book of the same name, a reprint of Petar Kuničić’s book from 1893 about the Austro-Hungarian Arctic Expedition (1872 – 1874), will take place. This year is also a jubilee, because 2022 marks 150 years since the beginning of the expedition aimed to find a Northeast Passage trough the arctic – between the Arctic ice, that is, the North Pole, and the European and Asian mainland.
The exhibition presents well known Austro-Hungarian scientific and research expedition of conquest of the Arctic from 1872. to 1874. in which 12 of 24 crew members of the crew were sailors from the Adriatic to whom the name „Quarneroli“ was given by the leaders od the expedition Weyprecht and Payer.
The selection of the crew from the Adriatic was criticized. There were opinions that sailors from the warm Adriatic could not stand to the difficulties of winter and North. However, after they happily returnerd from the expedition Weyprecht and Littrow (who helped to choose the crew) could only say that they were right – sailors from the Adriatic were extraordinary in all conditions!
In terms of science, this expedition is antecedent of researches of climate change and the influence of Arctic on the rest of the planet Earth.
The polar expedition ship „Admiral Tegetthoff“ was trapped in ice after only 2 months of sailing and it remained there forever. The crew returned to civilisation after 2 years and 3 months.
The most exceptionall discovery of this expedition was, until then, unnown archipelago consisting of 191 islands and which was named „Franz Joseph’s Land“. In that archipelago Cape Fiume was established.
One of the sailors, Ante Zaninović, was from Hvar and the Ante Lukinović was from Brač. The other sailors were from Plomin, Volosko, Opatija, Lovran, Bakar, Mali Lošinj, Rijeka, Cres and Trst.
Visit us on the 28th of July!