Paleomagnetic measurements prove large scale polar wandering and continental drift in the geologic past. Data from the Permian of the Alpine foldbelt are not consistent with those from “Meso-Europa”; that is from Europe north of this foldbelt. This discrepancy indicates the probability that the Tethys has been a major ocean, whilst during the Mesozoic translations occurred on a scale far larger than those deduced from Alpine nappe structures.