Salomon Andree. Portrait of the Swedish explorer Salomon August Andree (1854-1897). Andree, an engineer working for the Swedish patent office, attempted to reach the North Pole by balloon. His hydrogen-filled balloon was made of varnished silk and was 23 metres high. He was funded by Alfred Nobel and the Swedish King Oskar. Andree and two companions set off from Spitzbergen, Norway, in July 1897. Ice formed on the balloon and it landed around 800 kilometres from the North Pole. It was not until 1930 that the bodies of the three explorers were discovered.