Karl Ernst von Baer and the Kara Sea ‘Eiskeller’

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Authors: Tammiksaar, Erki, Stone, Ian R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1997
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Kara Sea; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400014716; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400014716

Abstract Karl Ernst von Baer coined the word ‘Eiskeller’ (ice-cellar) to describe the Kara Sea in 1837, but he did not define precisely what he meant. The word was seized upon by subsequent geographers, notably Friedrich B. Lütke and August Petermann, as implying that the sea was unnavigable. However, when numerous successful voyages — by Norwegian fishermen, Joseph Wiggins, and Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld — showed that this was not the case, it was Baer, and not Lütke or Petermann, who was criticised for the claim. Baer only defended himself against these allegations in 1876, the year of his death, 39 years after he had first used the term.