Dr.
Heinz Klamroth visited Egypt in the 1920ies. The year hasn't been
mentioned, but he travelled by ship from Genua to Alexandria and from there onwards, always in luxury.
The picture, which is between pages 112-113 in the book [1], shows
how Dr. Klamroth travelled back in these days: tropical suit and
tropical helmet.
I like
old books on travel, but I'm also often disappointed because of
the mistakes I find. I don't want to strain you by going through the
book, just allow me to quote one or two small passages.
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„So
Islam, in its one-sidedness, its harsh, completely uncomprehending
rejection of any other religious conviction, is a congenial child of
the desert, in which a merciless sun does not tolerate half measure
and softness. Its area of expansion has therefore remained limited to
the Orient, which for the most part comprises desert and steppe.“
[„So
ist der Islam in seiner Einseitigkeit, seiner schroffen, ganz und gar
verstädnis-losen Ablehnung jeder anderen religiösen Überzeugung,
ein rechtes Kind der Wüste, in der eine erbarmungslose Sonne keine
Halbheit und Weichheit duldet. Sein Ausdehnungsgebiet ist darum auch
auf den Orient beschränkt geblieben, der ja zum größten Teil Wüste
und Steppe umfaßt.“]
Even
contemporaries of Klamroth should have noticed that Judaism and
Christianity have developped in the same region.
The
book shows lots of halftruths, hearsay, wishful thinking, but it also
shows how people thought colonialism and repression to be acceptable
options in the world they lived in. Rather to educate and enlighten
his contemporaries, Klamroth entertains his readers
with the mysticism of the Orient and confirms prejudices.
I
haven't been able to find any data on who Dr. Heinz Klamroth has
been. In his foreword he wrote: „The hot, clean air
does not resonate, it is silent.“ [„Die heiße, reine Luft
schwingt in keiner Resonanz, sie ist stumm.“] Perhaps it's better
to keep silent about Dr. Heinz Klamroth.
Links
and References:
[1]
Klamroth, Dr. Heinz: Ägypten / das uralte Kultur- und moderne
Reiseland. Herder & Co. GmbH Verlagsbuchhandlung, Freiburg im
Breisgau 1930.
.
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