Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
The Pergamon Altar, the Market Gate of Miletus, the Lions of Babylon, the bust of Nefertiti - these are all treasures that we admire in German museums today. Where do these works come from? When and under what circumstances did they come to Germany? Are we actually the rightful owners of these world-famous cultural assets?
Jurgen Gottschlich and Dilek Zaptcioglu-Gottschlich take an in-depth look at the history of archaeological excavations and their transportation to the German Empire. The focus is on the expeditions of famous excavators such as Carl Humann, Theodor Wiegand and Robert Koldewey on the one hand and the predominantly nationalistic motives of their forays in the service of the Kaiser on the other. While the debate on looted art has so far tended to focus on works of art from African and Asian colonies, this is the first book on archaeological finds in the former Ottoman Empire. Just as important as the demand for restitution is the question: How do we make this world cultural heritage accessible to as many people as possible?
Jurgen Gottschlich and Dilek Zaptcioglu-Gottschlich take an in-depth look at the history of archaeological excavations and their transportation to the German Empire. The focus is on the expeditions of famous excavators such as Carl Humann, Theodor Wiegand and Robert Koldewey on the one hand and the predominantly nationalistic motives of their forays in the service of the Kaiser on the other. While the debate on looted art has so far tended to focus on works of art from African and Asian colonies, this is the first book on archaeological finds in the former Ottoman Empire. Just as important as the demand for restitution is the question: How do we make this world cultural heritage accessible to as many people as possible?
Price: £22.50
Pages: 212
Publisher: Lockwood Press
Imprint: Lockwood Press
Publication Date:
30 June 2026
ISBN: 9781957454771
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
reviews of the German edition (Aufbau Vlg, 2021) . . .
»Das Buch ›Die Schatzjäger des Kaisers‹ erzählt hochspannend, wie skrupellos sich der Westen im Orient antike Kunst besorgte.« -- Christiane Schlötzer ― Süddeutsche Zeitung, 14 July 2022
»So spannend wie ein Abenteuerroman.« -- Luise Loges ― Antike Welt, 21 January 2022
»Das liest sich genauso spannend, wie der Titel es verspricht, ist aber gleichzeitig eine differenzierte Sicht auf das Thema.« ― Museumsjournal, 20 December 2021
»Sie beschreiben detailliert, gestützt auf deutsche und türkische Quellen, wie der Pergamonaltar, das Markttor von Milet, die Prozessionsstraße Babylons und andere einzigartige Kunstwerke aus dem Osmanischen Reich nach Deutschland gerieten.« -- Michael Sontheimer ― Der SPIEGEL, 15 November 2021
»Das Buch ist ein wichtiger Beitrag zur gegenwärtigen Restitutionsdebatte.« -- Udo Weber ― ekz Bibliotheksservice, 26 October 2021
»Spannend ist dieser flüssig geschriebene Ritt durch die europäischen Beutezüge im Osmanischen Reich und die deutsche Museumsgeschichte bis in die Gegenwart.« -- Hanna Schneck ― Kreuzer, 4 October 2021
Jürgen Gottschlich is one of the original founders of the cooperatively-owned German daily newspaper tageszeitung (taz) and has for 20 years been its Istanbul correspondent. Dilek Zaptcioglu-Gottschlich is a journalist and author of several books on the second half of the 19th-century and the history of the closing years of the Ottoman Empire.