February 19, 2026
Cold takes, hot drama
Hitler's Greenland Obsession
From explorer fandom to icy resource grabs, the internet erupts
TLDR: Hitler’s interest in Greenland evolved from explorer worship to a strategic resource hunt, including cryolite and Antarctic claims. Commenters clash over modern parallels, meme-fuel like “rename it Poland,” and a reality check that Greenland is mostly ice—turning a frozen history lesson into a fiery thread.
Hitler’s lifelong fixation on Greenland isn’t just a chilling history nugget—it sparked a full-blown comment brawl. The article lays out how he went from fanboying explorers like Fridtjof Nansen and Alfred Wegener (yes, he owned the expedition book with that ominous ex libris) to turning Greenland into a strategic obsession. By 1934, his government had tallied up locals, sheep, and the jackpot: cryolite, a mineral crucial for making aluminum. Cue expeditions led by a mining engineer (not exactly a botanist), whaling fleets, and even Nazi markers dropped across Antarctica. The vibe? Resource fever with a side of land claims.
But the community’s hot takes steal the show. One camp goes full modern parallels, dropping lines like “sounds like Trump,” while jokesters dream up chaos: “rename Greenland to Poland” for maximum WW3 meme potential. Realists clap back: Greenland is mostly ice and tiny towns—“great on a map, rough in reality.” The thread’s meta-drama escalates as archived receipts appear and someone sighs, “Aaand it’s flagged,” hinting at moderation stepping in. The comment war splits between history repeating as resource grab versus “this is just cold-clickbait.” Either way, the crowd’s turning icy facts into fiery debate—and some very frozen punchlines.
Key Points
- •Hitler’s early fascination with Greenland drew on explorers like Fridtjof Nansen and Alfred Wegener, whose work and related media influenced him.
- •Hitler’s personal copy of Wegener’s expedition history, held at the Library of Congress, indicates a direct, personal acquisition coinciding with his 1933 strategic turn.
- •In 1934, the Nazi government inventoried Greenland’s population and resources, highlighting a major cryolite deposit vital for American aluminum production.
- •A 1938 expedition to Greenland, dispatched by Hermann Göring and led by mining engineer Kurt Herdemerten, suggests economic objectives beyond scientific study.
- •Germany expanded whaling and in 1939 conducted an Antarctic mission led by Alfred Ritscher using Dornier Do 18-D aircraft to mark territorial claims tied to economic interests.