Nordenskioldbreen
Located in Spitsbergen, Nordenskioldbreen is a glacier that Arctic expedition passengers can visit while on their cruise. Ranging over 25 km in length and 11 km in width, Nordenskioldbreen issues out a beautiful flow of icebergs and smaller bits of free-flowing ice bits, creating a breathtaking spectacle of blue-white voyagers against a sea of darker blue-grey.
What’s in a name?
Nordenskioldbreen is named after the Finnish and Swedish geologist, explorer, and mineralogist Baron Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld.
Born in Finland in 1832 (which was controlled by Russia at the time), Nordenskiöld was pretty much destined to become a scientist of some sort, seeing as how the Nordenskiöld clan was quite prominent in the science world of the day.
Nordenskiöld was also quite prominent in politics. Some people found him far too prominent, and he was forced to move to Sweden in 1901. Once there he established himself in the science and exploration communities, taking expeditions to the Arctic in 1867, 1870, 1872, and 1875. He rose to fame in 1878 and 1879 when he led the Vega expedition, the first Arctic cruise to ever complete the entire Northeast Passage of Eurasia.
In 1901 he was nominated for the very first Nobel Prize to be given out for physics, but died before the prize was actually given out.
An Arctic cruise to Nordenskioldbreen
Exploring the glacier that bears the famous explorer’s name is a little easier today than it was back in his time. If you’d like to see Nordenskioldbreen for yourself then join us on one of our Spitsbergen cruises below.