How Croatian sailors who survived two years in Arctic ice helped shape modern climate science

The Tegetthoff (Image: Source – Sammlung B. Kralik/Author Wilhelm Burger/Public domain)

ZAGREB, 6 June 2026 – An exhibition was opened this week at the Croatian Natural History Museum (HPM) about Croatian sailors who survived being trapped in Arctic ice for two years in the 19th century and contributed to a breakthrough in global science.

Also and a presentation was held for an expanded edition of Petar Kuničić’s 1893 book Croats on the Ice Sea 1872–1874.

At a time when climate change and Arctic ice melt dominate global headlines, it is little known that more than 150 years ago Croatian sailors took part in an expedition that fundamentally changed the understanding of polar regions and laid the foundations of modern climate and ice research.

In the foreword to the reprinted edition, academician Mirko Orlić noted that their observations had been the first to demonstrate that Arctic ice was constantly moving under the influence of wind and ocean currents.

Researchers on the expedition recorded ice drift, the depth of the Arctic Ocean, temperature and weather changes, auroras and other atmospheric phenomena, as well as Arctic flora and fauna, ocean dynamics and sea salinity, Orlić said.

He stressed that these findings had become the basis of modern glaciology, oceanography and climate science.

Book editor Miljenko Smokvina recalled that 12 Croats had been among the 24 crew members aboard the ship Tegetthoff.

The Austro-Hungarian expedition ship Tegetthoff set sail for the Arctic, but after two months became permanently trapped in ice, forcing the crew to survive two years and three months of polar nights, extreme conditions and total isolation with no possibility of return, he said.

Their commanders, polar explorers Carl Weyprecht and Julius Payer, collectively named the crew the Quarneroli, he added.

Many doubted “people from the warm Adriatic” would survive the Arctic Many had doubted that “people from the warm Adriatic” would survive the Arctic.

Yet it was the Croatian sailors who proved crucial to the expedition’s survival. Representing the publisher and LC Quarneroli Lovran, Milorad Stanić said their discovery had changed the world.

The expedition identified the then-unknown Franz Josef Land archipelago, consisting of 191 islands, he noted, adding that its greatest contribution was scientific.

He stressed that the expedition inspired the concept of international polar research and Polar Years, still among the world’s largest scientific projects focused on the Arctic and climate change.

HPM director Tatjana Vlahović said the exhibition went beyond a traditional historical narrative and raised key questions about contemporary science and identity.

“This exhibition shows that Croatian sailors were already in the 19th century part of one of the greatest exploratory undertakings of its time,” she said, adding that their courage, knowledge and endurance have become part of modern Arctic research.

She also stressed the importance of linking historical heritage with current issues such as climate change, international scientific cooperation and the future of polar research.

The Croatian Natural History Museum is proud of the story, which deserves international visibility, the museum director said.

The exhibition runs until 20 September.