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The exploration of the Antarctic continent and its surrounding continental margins is necessary to understand the interactions of solid earth, oceans, glaciations, atmosphere, and biosphere. Since 1979, scientists of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR, Hannover, Germany) in collaboration with national and international institutions have studied the lithosphere and processes related to the geological evolution of Antarctica through time. The main target have been the Transantarctic Mountains in Victoria Land and the Ross Sea region within the frame of the research program GANOVEX (German Antarctic North Victoria Land Expedition). Based on the task sharing agreement between the Alfred-Wegener-Institute Helmholtz Centre of Polar and Marine Research (AWI), BGR is responsible for the terrestrial (“hard-rock”) part of in Antarctica. BGR logistics has supported numerous projects based at German universities, which receive financial support through the Antarctic Priority Program of the German Research Foundation (DFG). BGR owns Gondwana Station at Terra Nova Bay and Lillie-Marleen-Hut in the Everett Range of the Transantarctic Mountains, since 2005 recognized as Historic Site & Monument within the Antarctic Treaty System. BGR also organized or co-organized expeditions to the Shackleton Range, the central Transantarctic Mountains, and East Antarctica (Dronning Maud Land, Lambert Glacier, Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains) and participated in the Cape-Roberts-Project and ANDRILL in the Ross Sea. BGR makes a major contribution to the main scientific goals of German Antarctic research and assists the government in the pursuit of its political goals, such as maintaining Germany’s consultative status within the Antarctic Treaty System. Through planning, organisation and implementation of geoscientific expeditions conducted on a broad scientific basis and in cooperation with national and international partners, BGR makes an important contribution to the primarily basic geoscientific polar research to which Germany is committed in line with its co-responsibility for the global environment.

Polar research at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources