Previously unknown diaries from Andrée's polar expedition are in danger of being lost

There are two diaries written by hydrogen engineer Axel Stake that will now be auctioned off at Stockholm's auction house.

The diaries have been forgotten and unknown to Andrée researchers, until recently.

And the books are now arousing the interest of historians, as they can provide new perspectives on the expedition.

- The story of Andrée's balloon expedition contains so much drama and human tragedy that it never ceases to fascinate.

Axel Stake's diaries give a new picture of the expedition's preparations and are therefore very valuable for research, says Håkan Jorikson, director of Grenna Museum Polarcenter.

Valuable for research

Who then was this Axel Stake?

A hydrogen engineer on Salomon August Andrée's polar expedition at the end of the 19th century.

Stake would be responsible for the production of the gas that would give Andrée's balloon

lifting power.

He was on site in Svalbard during the first attempt in the summer of 1896 and at the departure in 1897. During the preparations, Axel Stake photographed and recorded events and portraits of the people at the starting point on Svalbard.

- He describes the members and their comrades, the sailors and the people ashore, in a very open and straightforward way.

It is exciting reading, and gives new perspectives on the story of Andrée's polar expedition, which is very valuable to us, says Håkan Jorikson.

The goal of the balloon expedition was the geographical North Pole, the first to reach it in that case.

But the expedition ended unhappily, the balloon disappeared over the Arctic Ocean and the three expedition members - Andrée, Nils Strindberg and Knut Fraenkel, were found dead on Vitön east of Svalbard, thirty-three years after departure.

Private collectors' interest

The interest in polar history and preserved equipment from historical polar expeditions is very great, and Andrée's balloon trip attracts stakeholders from all over the world.

Therefore, there is a great risk that Stakes' diaries end up on the shelves of a private collector, inaccessible to researchers and other interested parties.

In the autumn of 1897, immediately after returning from the adventure on Svalbard, Axel Stake moved to New York.

There he made a living, among other things, giving lectures on Andrée's polar expedition.

He later worked as a chemist at various mining companies in Arizona and Mexico.

He died in Mexico in 1901, unaware of the fate of the balloonists.

- Axel Stake's story has never been published, we now hope that there will be an export ban and that the diaries stay in Sweden, and preferably with us at Grenna Museum Polarcenter - then we will make the material available to anyone who wants a picture of how the expedition's participants experienced the start of the dramatic balloon expedition, says Håkan Jorikson.

The auction takes place on 16 June.