![Hermann Burchardt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Hermann_Burchardt.png)
Hermann Burchardt (November 18, 1857 – December 19, 1909) was a German explorer and photographer of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
descent, who is renowned for his black and white pictorial essays of scenes in Arabia in the early 20th century.
Life
Burchardt, born in Berlin in 1857 to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family, gave up his unwanted merchant profession at the age of 30, following the death of his father who left him with a large inheritance. Around this time, Burchardt who had developed a keen interest in photography, chose to become a ''privateer'' - that is, a man who travelled for pleasure. Before disembarking on his journeys to Africa and the Middle East, he learnt systematically, both,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
and
Turkish, while studying in Berlin's ''Department of Oriental Languages'' (''Seminar für Orientalische Sprachen'') between the years 1890–1892, as also learnt the rudiments of Swahili and Persian (Farsi). His inherited wealth enabled him to rent an apartment in
Damascus, Syria, where he lived for several years, using the city as his base for disembarking on his more extended travels. In his travels throughout the Muslim world, he was usually accompanied by his Syrian Arab guide and confidant, Abu Ibrahim. The beginning of his journeys took him to
Tangier
Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...
, in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
, and from there to
Samarkand in Central Asia. Eventually, his tours would lead him to East Africa and, particularly, to the southern part of the
Arabian Peninsula. On these trips he was furnished with his own complete, state-of-the-art photographic equipment, enabling him to take photographs of peoples and the places he visited. He had also taken along with him the necessary tools for developing the plates and for the production of prints.
Burchardt first arrived in
Sana'a
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Gover ...
,
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
in 1901, where he spent almost one year with the Jewish community. On the third of these extensive travels, in December 1909 he made arrangements to join-up with the Italian vice-consul Marquis Benzoni in
Mocha, and to escort him on his journey to
Sana'a
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Gover ...
via
Taiz
Taiz ( ar, تَعِزّ, Taʿizz) is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni Highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate. With a popula ...
and
al-ʿUdayn. In Burchardt's last missive sent by postcard from Mocha and dated 8 December 1909, he wrote: "This card will reach you from one of the most godforsaken little places in Asia. It exceeds all my expectations, with regard to the destruction. It looks like a city entirely destroyed by earthquakes. The path from
Taiz
Taiz ( ar, تَعِزّ, Taʿizz) is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni Highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate. With a popula ...
to here, which takes 3 days, was or should have been insecure. There were the usual disorders with the tax collectors, with whom there were deaths on both sides. Here lives the Italian consulate, and the consul will go back with me to Sanaa. Photos from here will be very interesting. The last stage in the plain is terribly hot; bad water;
quinine
Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to '' Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal le ...
is given to all my people (11 people in number, including 8
Gendarmerie). Will be glad to once again reach the high plateau of Arabia Felix." While their small caravan was ''en route'' to Sana'a, when they had come within three to four days' walking distance from Sana'a, and had just crossed the riverine gulch, ''Wādī ad-Door'' ( ar, وادي الدور), to the west of
Ibb
Ibb ( ar, إِبّ, ʾIbb) is a city in Yemen, the capital of Ibb Governorate, located about northeast of Mocha and south of Sana'a.
A market town and administrative centre developed during the Ottoman Empire, it is one of the most important ...
, they were ambushed and killed by gunmen, in what some say was a case of mistaken identity.
In Sana'a and the port city of
Hodeida
Al-Hudaydah ( ar, الْحُدَيْدَة, al-ḥudayda), also transliterated as Hodeda, Hodeida, Hudaida or Hodeidah, is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its principal port on the Red Sea.
As of 2004, its population was 402,560 and it is ...
the news aroused general mourning among the European colony. The consulate's flag flew half-mast. The Christmas celebrations were canceled. The Italian merchant, Caprotti, who was a resident of Sana'a and a friend of Burchardt's since his first visit to Yemen, closed his epistolary communication of 23 December 1909 from Hodeida to the relatives of Burchardt with these words (in French): "Our poor, unfortunate friend was, by all who knew him, sincerely loved. The poor of Sana'a certainly weep over his tragic death. God will remember his kindness and charity. I know very well what he had done to comfort the poor."
Expeditions
His first trip in the Spring of 1893 brought him to the
Siwa Oasis in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. Later he settled in Damascus for a few years, using this as a base for his travels throughout the region until he was killed in Yemen while ''en route'' from Mocha to Sana'a.
Most of Burchardt's photographs have now been dated and their geographical location determined. A small but exquisite part of the collection has now been masterfully edited and commented in a volume with texts in both English and German.
It covers Burchardt's journey over the period of December, 1903 to March, 1904, when he traveled from
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...
to
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
and on to
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
,
Hofuf
Al-Hofuf ( ar, ٱلْهُفُوف ', also spelled Hofuf or Hufuf, also known as "Al-Hasa", "Al-Ahsa" or "Al-Hassa") is the major urban city in the Al-Ahsa Oasis in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, with a population of 858,395 (as of 202 ...
,
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
,
Abu Dhabi,
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
,
Muscat
Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...
in
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
, and finally
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. This leg of the photographer's journey has been described in only one publication, namely, the minutes of a lecture in the "Journal of the Geographical Society." Of particular interest is Burchardt's travels to Yemen where he photographed the Jewish communities in Sana'a, in
Radāʻ, in
Maswār and in
Rouda
Rouda is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Harley Rouda
Harley Edwin Rouda Jr. (born December 10, 1961) is an American attorney, businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for California's 48th congres ...
. Particularly where Yemenite Jewry is concerned, a visually-based ethnography also preserves facts that are forgotten in oral traditions and are not mentioned in written sources. Hermann Burchardt visited
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
in 1902, 1907, and again in 1909, the year in which he was killed in Yemen.
Personal effects
After his death, Burchardt's nephew, Max Ginsberg, donated in 1911 more than 500 photographic plates and contact sheets of the traveler (taken from the estate of Hermann Burchardt) to the Berlin Museum of Ethnology (''Museum für Völkerkunde''), today, the
Ethnological Museum of Berlin
The Ethnological Museum of Berlin (german: Ethnologisches Museum Berlin) is one of the Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), the de facto national collection of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is presently located in ...
, for a total of nearly 2000 negatives, glass and celluloid plates, where they lay dormant and forgotten in their boxes, until after the year 2000, at which time, with support from the ''German Research Foundation'', they were scientifically analyzed and published.
Burchardt kept a diary of his travels, but for many years it was thought that his diary was lost. Burchardt's private notes in his diary were necessary to identify many of his photographs, without which it would have been nearly impossible. In a search for the estate of Eugen Mittwoch, who evaluated Burchardt's papers on Yemen as late as the 1920s, part of Burchardt's estate came to light in the
National Archive in Jerusalem. In these boxes were diaries, letters and lists with picture titles. At the end of processing of the photographic estate, about 90% of the almost 2,000 pictures could be identified and dated.
The results of this work were partly issued in Yemen and the Arab States of the Gulf Coast and reviewed there with great interest. The National Museum in Sana'a has a small permanent exhibition of black-and-white photographs of the German traveler, Hermann Burchardt.
As an avid traveler Burchardt had photographed extensively not only in the Arabic Middle East (e.g. archaeological sites in
Hauran of Syria, etc.) and North Africa (including
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
), but also in Turkey and Persia, and Australia.
It is believed by some that Burchardt used the home of Gustav Sachs in Moabit, Berlin, as his home base on return from travels, as well as a mailing address. In February 1906, he gave a lecture at the General Assembly of the ''Berlin Society for Geography''.
Max Freiherr von Oppenheim made extensive use of Burchardt's photographic work which he published in his own studies of the Orient. The images that Burchardt was particularly fond of capturing were of harbors, ships, markets, merchants, ''
Sheikhs
Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
'' and the
Jews of Yemen
Yemenite Jews or Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ''Yehudei Teman''; ar, اليهود اليمنيون) are those Jews who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. Between June 1949 and September 1950, the ...
.
Professor
Eugen Mittwoch
Eugen Mittwoch (4 December 1876 – 8 November 1942) was the founder of Modern Islamic Studies in Germany, and at the same time an eminent Jewish scholar.
Biography
Coming from an old Orthodox Jewish family, Mittwoch was born in Schrimm, Prus ...
, based on the testimony of Burchardt's Yemeni-Arab secretary which he translated into German, wrote a book entitled, ''Aus dem Jemen'' (published in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
in 1926), in which he describes Hermann Burchardt's final journey in
South Arabia. At his funeral, Burchardt was eulogized by an Italian merchant who had befriended him on his last visit to Sana'a.
Publications / Literature
During Burchardt's stays in Germany, he lectured at the ''Berlin Geographical Society''. His lectures were partly published in the journal of the Society.
* Hermann Burchardt, ''Von den Juden des Jemen''
'Of the Jews of Yemen'' Berlin 1913 (post-mortem)
* Hermann Burchardt,
August Fischer (ed.): ''Arabische und persische Handschriften: Aus dem Besitz des verstorbenen Reisenden Dr. Burchardt.'' Privatdruck in der Buchhandlung
Gustav Fock
Gustav Fock (18 November 1893 – 12 March 1974) was a German music historian, editor early music and organologist (musical instrumentologist). He is considered the most important Arp Schnitger, Schnitger researcher of his time.
Life and work
B ...
1921.
'Arab and Persian manuscripts: From the estate of the late Dr. Burchardt's travels''*
Eugen Mittwoch
Eugen Mittwoch (4 December 1876 – 8 November 1942) was the founder of Modern Islamic Studies in Germany, and at the same time an eminent Jewish scholar.
Biography
Coming from an old Orthodox Jewish family, Mittwoch was born in Schrimm, Prus ...
(Bearbeiter): ''Aus dem Jemen: Hermann Burchardts letzte Reise durch Südarabien''. Festgabe für den 4. Deutschen Orientalistentag in Hamburg.
Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft
The Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (, ''German Oriental Society''), abbreviated DMG, is a scholarly organization dedicated to Oriental studies, that is, to the study of the languages and cultures of the Near East and the Far East, the broa ...
, Brockhaus, Leipzig 1926.
'From Yemen: Herman Burchardt's last trip through southern Arabia''* Annegret Nippa: ''Lesen in alten Photographien aus
Baalbek''. Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich, Zürich 1996
'Reading in Old Photographs -- from Baalbek. Photos of Hermann Burchardt'' .
[Book presents rules for a historically oriented use of photography as a genre of source. The author works under the premise that a visually-based ethnography also preserves facts that are forgotten in oral traditions and are not mentioned in written sources.]
* Annegret Nippa, Peter Herbstreuth (editors): ''Unterwegs am Golf: Von
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...
nach
Maskat
Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate wa ...
.'' Verlag Schiler, Berlin, 2006, . (deutsch, englisch)
* Franziska Bloch: ''Mit geschultem Blick. Hermann Burchardts Reise in Südsyrien 1895. Fotografien eines deutschen Orientreisenden''. Katalogbroschüre zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung des
Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts in Berlin, Außenstelle Damaskus, in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Ethnologischen Museum, Berlin 2010. (German/Arabic)
* Burchardt, Hermann
''Die Juden im Yemen'' in: ''Ost und West'' 2 (1902), Berlin
'The Jews in Yemen'', in: ''East and West'' 2 (1902) pp. 337–341; sowie: ders., Reiseskizzen aus dem Yemen, in: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde 17 (1902), pp. 305–322.
* Burchardt, Hermann, ''Ost-Arabien. Von Basra bis Maskat auf Grund eigner Reisen'', in: ''Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde'' 21 (1906)
'Eastern Arabia. From Basra to Muscat on basic own travel'', in: ''Journal of the Geographical Society'' 21 (1906) pp. 305-322.
*Arabische und Persische Handschriften
rabic and Persian Manuscripts Burchardt, Hermann. -
. l.:
. n.eipzig ( : Otto Wigand), (
921,
rivatdr.(published post-mortem)
* ''Unterwegs am Golf : von Basra nach Maskat'' = Along the Gulf : from Basra to Muscat / photographs by Hermann Burchardt ;
dited byAnnegret Nippa, Peter Herbstreuth ;
nglische Übersetzung, Mitch Cohen Berlin 2006
External links
Moroccan Jewish Families, a pictorial essayThe Danan Synagogue of Fez (Morocco)Messages from H. Burchardt's Last Letter ''Ost und West'', Berlin 1910 (German)
Scenes from Oman (1903-1904)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burchardt, Hermann
German Arabists
History of Yemen
Yemen researchers
German orientalists
German geographers
19th-century travelers
Photographers from Berlin
1857 births
1909 deaths
19th-century German Jews
Male murder victims
Murdered Jews
German murder victims
Researchers of Yemenite Jewry
German people murdered abroad