From Cairo to Tell Halaf, The Max von Oppenheim Photo Collection

Young worker at the excavation in front of one of the two "Scorpionbirdmen", 1912/13 © Max Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung, Köln

Two exhibitions at the National Museums in Berlin honour the life and work of the diplomat, archaeologist and ethnologist Max von Oppenheim (1860-1946): From 28 January to 14 August 2011, the Museum of the Ancient Near East presents at the Pergamon Museum the archaeological finds from Tell Halaf, a 3,000 year old princely residence in North-eastern Syria now reconstructed from ruins. The Museum for Photography features for the first time the unique photography collection of Max von Oppenheim in an exhibition.

Max von Oppenheim’s photography collection survived the Second World War under dramatic circumstances and carries the signature of his multifaceted personality. Various photographers worked in his service; however, the selection and composition of their photographs fully reflect their employer’s view as regards his achievements and the world in general – ranging from his work for the Foreign Office at the German Consulate in Cairo to the archaeological excavations at Tell Halaf and their presentation at a museum of their own in Berlin. More than 60 albums with photographs as well as individual pictures documenting the sojourns of the explorer in the Near East between 1899 and 1939 will be on display. They include travel ethno-impressions, landscapes and architecture, ethnographic images of Bedouins, sheiks and diplomats, everyday working life and discoveries during archaeological excavations in the North-eastern Syrian desert. They are complemented by works from major photographic studios of the Near East around 1900 from the Collection of Photography at the Art Library.