In Biggles at World's End, Hugo Gontermann was the airport manager at Punta Arenas in Chile. Biggles first met Gontermann when he gave him and his friends a none too friendly welcome on their arrival. According to Mr Scott, a ship's chandler at Punta Arenas, Gontermann had a Chilean mother but his father had been a German sailor on board the Dresden. During World War 2, Gontermann had apparently made his way to Germany to offer his services. He had joined the Luftwaffe and had become a station commander of some sort. Upon returning after the war, his knowledge about aircraft landed him a job as the airport manager. Gontermann kept mainly to himself and spent most of his free time sailing in his yacht Der Wespe. According to Mr Scott, Gontermann knew the local waters and weather conditions as well as any man.
As Biggles was to discover, Gontermann's German ancestry was probably only part of the reason for his hostility. The airport manager probably suspected that what Biggles' mission to Punta Arenas really was: to locate the cache of gold which the Dresden had captured from a British merchantman and then hidden on an island in the Magellan Straits. As Biggles discovered, Gontermann was involved in the same quest himself. He had two accomplices whom he left among the islands, frequently resupplying them with his yacht. Gontermann had probably heard of the gold from his father but as things turned out, he wasn't working on his own account but for the Russians. He nearly won the last of his several confrontations with Biggles when his Russian principals arrived on board a whaler. However his victory was short lived when the ship ran aground offshore. This allowed the British frigate H.M.S. Petrel to arrive on scene first and collect the gold.
Biggles told the Chilean officials at the end of the story that he believed Gontermann had come to Punta Arenas for the sole purpose of locating the gold with the backing of the Russian government. The Chilean officials agreed with this, noting that he had applied for the post in a place where few people would have wanted to serve. As he had gone on board the Russian whaler, the Chileans commented that he would be well advised to stay on her.
What became of Gontermann was never known. The whaler was later found abandoned. Gontermann disappeared along with the rest of the crew.