The Lost Photographs From Andrée's Arctic Balloon Expedition of 1897

In 1897, Swedish engineer S. A. Andrée led a high-stakes, patriotic attempt to reach the North Pole using a hydrogen balloon named The Eagle (Örnen). Supported by King Oscar II and Alfred Nobel, the mission sought to claim the Pole for Sweden through “futurist” aerial exploration rather than traditional sledging.

Andrée was accompanied by engineer Knut Frænkel and photographer Nils Strindberg. They took off from Svalbard on July 11, 1897. Moments after lift-off, the balloon lost its heavy steering drag-ropes, leaving it at the mercy of the wind. The balloon sailed for only 65 hours. Leaking gas and weighed down by freezing rain, it made a gentle emergency landing on the pack ice, far short of the North Pole.

The three men were unhurt but unprepared for the terrain. They attempted a grueling three-month trek south across shifting ice, eventually reaching the deserted Kvitøya (White Island) in October 1897, where they perished.

The expedition’s fate remained a mystery for 33 years until 1930, when Norwegian whalers discovered their final camp. Remarkably, the harsh Arctic cold preserved the men's diaries and photographic film. The Grenna Museum in Sweden now houses the collection of recovered equipment and photographs. Modern analysis, such as that by author Bea Uusma, continues to investigate the exact cause of death, theories range from trichinosis from polar bear meat to carbon monoxide poisoning or exhaustion.

The photographs recovered in 1930 from Nils Strindberg’s camera provide a haunting, first-hand account of the expedition’s final months. Despite spending 33 years frozen in the Arctic ice, the film remained remarkably developable. The most famous of these images document the immediate aftermath of the balloon’s crash-landing on July 14, 1897, and the men’s subsequent struggle to survive while trekking across the pack ice.

The Eagle sailing north, photographed from Danes Island.

Moments after take off the balloon loses two steering ropes weighing a half ton each.

The steering ropes drag The Eagle toward the water shortly after launching.

Crash landing.

S. A. Andrée and Knut Frænkel with the balloon on the pack ice, photographed by the third expedition member, Nils Strindberg. The exposed film for this photograph and others from the failed 1897 expedition was recovered in 1930.

The expedition embarkation point with the balloon under assembly.

Setting up camp.

Crossing a channel with the balloon-silk boat.

Frænkel (left) and Strindberg with the first polar bear shot by the explorers.

Strindberg on snowshoes with heavily laden sled.

The Andree team after they crashed.

An expedition journal recovered years later.

Andrée’s balloon was made at Henri Lachambre’s workshop in Paris.

The explorers minutes before takeoff on July 11.

Neil Stridberg’s camera discovered in ice.

Stridberg’s surviving rolls of film.