Dirck Gerritsz hmmm that does not really ring a bell does it? We all know Amundsen, Shackleton and Scott as the famous polar explorers but Dirck Gerritsz is not the name that we connect with polar research. However we should do so and we should be proud of it. It might be that this Dirck Gerritsz was the first who reached the Antarctic and there is proof of that. In fact in the marble floor in the Royal Palace Amsterdam in Dam Square the western hemisphere is projected and a small piece of coastline of Dirck Gerritsz Land can be seen!