Afghanistan 1922

King Amanullah in Berlin

Probably in the summer of 1927 (or 1926) my great-grandfather spent his vacation in Berlin. Since he had made the first trip to Kabul by land via rail, he now probably chose the other way home by ship. I can only guess this. How many times he had vacation I do not know. One of his last photos shows Tehran from the air. So he probably made the pictures shown here in 1926 on his way home to the 3-month holiday.

Dr. Gerber describes in his book "Afghan Mosaics" during the steamer trip to Kabul the stay in Aden. As in the description of the tower room, the story of Dr. Gerber and the photographs by Wilhelm Rieck.

Aden

"Aden"

One of the ostrich feather sellers' clients was my great-grandfather, who bought a bundle of about 30 ostrich feathers. As my mother says, my grandmother had a carnival suit in the 1930s with these thirty ostrich feathers. Since it would have been relatively difficult to get such a number ostrich feathers in the Berlin of the 30s, it could have probably been traded ostrich feathers from Aden.

carpet dealer

One of the fan seller

From Aden we went through the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal. My great-grandfather called this trip through the Suez Canal the most boring thing he has ever seen. From Suez the steamer then drove through the Strait of Messina on Mount Vesuvius to Naples. From there probably by train to Berlin.

"Neaples Vesuv in the raine"

"Neaples"

During his vacation, my great-grandfather in the Lyceum Schlüterstr, my grandmother's school, gave a photo lecture about Afghanistan. How these photos were treated as a photo lecture is unfortunately unknown. Maybe there was then the possibility to scan the glass plates as a positive image, or the photos were placed in a device that projects the photos via a deflecting mirror with appropriate lighting to the wall. This could be part of the pictures shown here. I do not know if there were other photo albums than those available to me.

Amanullah Khan liked the green patina-covered roofs of Sancoussi Palace in Potsdam that he saw during his visit to Germany. He then instructed my great-grandfather to equip the roofs of his palaces in Kabul with this "color". My great-grandfather explained to him that this is not possible and he just has to wait until the copper roofs have adopted this color because it would be a natural weathering effect. King Amanullah was disappointed but satisfied with the answer.

When I told this story to an Afghan architect, he had to laugh. He had worked in the palace until his escape in the 1980s and told me that the roofs were brown but not patina green at the time of his escape. In Afghanistan, there is not the necessary humidity to form copper patina.

When I constructed the two palaces for Google Earth with a 3D program, this request of Amanullah came to my mind when choosing the color Patinagrün. For this reason, I suspect that my great-grandfather (among other things?) Was responsible for the roof structures. Finally, the client discusses appropriate wishes only with the responsible employee.

The Darulaman-Palace as you can see in Google Earth.

The Tapeh-Taj-beg-palace in Google Earth

The Darulaman-Palace as 3D-modell.

A modell in 3D of the Tapeh-Taj-Beg-palace

King Amanullah visited Berlin in 1928. At that time, he invited all members of the Germans working in Afghanistan to an evening reception at the Prinz-Albrecht-Palais. He wore, in contrast to his magnificent entry into Berlin (riding a white horse with feather crown), a simple "civilian" suit. My great-grandmother described him as a "small, smart, dark-skinned gentleman."

King Amanullah then told my great-grandmother in good English that her husband had disappointed him about his castle roofs, but that he was his best European chess partner.

It would be nice if the publication of this story would mean that the restoration of the palaces still takes into account the wishes of King Amanullah and the green patina is applied to the copper roofs. Thus, about 60 years after his death, my great-grandfather, through his story in the family, could still have fulfilled the wishes of King Amanullah.

Of course, my grandmother would have loved to go to the reception, but she had to go to bed at the age of 12 - in a very big protest. That evening, the canary had escaped and hid behind the closet. So, in addition to the big preparations (my great-grandmother in appropriate wardrobe), the wardrobe had to be removed from the wall to catch the bird again. I leave it to each individual reader to imagine how great the excitement was.

Right:
an englisch goldsouvereign

My great-grandmother and my grandmother went to the Royal Afghan Embassy on Lessing Street 9 near Hansaplatz in Berlin-Moabit on the 1st of each month to pick up the monthly salary in English gold coins. Afterwards, she exchanged the currency in the department store Wertheim, because there a better course was paid than with the German bank. The district was destroyed in the war and built after the war with residential high-rise buildings.