Sebastian Willert earned a Master’s in History at Leibniz Universität Hannover in 2016. After attending a seminar about Provenance Research in 2015, he focused his research on questions concerning the provenance, dispossession and translocation of cultural assets and produced a thesis titled “The German Art Policy in the Orient during the First World War. On the role of the German-Turkish Commando for the Monument Protection in the Ottoman Empire, or: Art Protection or Looting of Art?”. In 2017, he began doctoral studies at the Excellence Cluster topoi, developing his thesis “Cultural Imperialism versus Protectionism? On the Role of Antiquities as a matter of conflict within the German-Ottoman Art Policy between 1890 and 1918”. He also participates in the PhD program Ancient Object(s) and Visual Studies (AOViS) at the Berlin Graduate School of Ancient Studies (BerGSAS) and is Predoctoral-Fellow in the Research Cluster Translocations. Historical Enquiries into the Displacement of Cultural Assets. His research focusses on the valorisation, instrumentalization and translocation of cultural assets within the 19th and 20th century with a regional emphasis on the Ottoman Empire.
The aim of the dissertation project is to analyse the impact the negotiations concerning the excavation, translocation and exhibition of cultural assets between German and Ottoman actors had on the German-Ottoman relations during the First World War. The establishment of archaeology as a scientific discipline during the 19th century lead to an increasing number of expeditions and excavations within the Ottoman Empire. The common goal of many of these enterprises was primarily the acquisition of antiquities to expand the collections of Western museums. The exploitation of archaeological sites and antiquities developed into a tool of Western imperialistic penetration of the Ottoman Empire. Collecting and displaying antiquities in museums became an allegory for cultural superiority. International competition led to a scramble for objects, which involved close collaboration between archaeologists, diplomats and the military.
In the late 19th century the German Empire strengthened its economic, military and cultural activity in the Ottoman Empire. For museums concerned with the acquisitions of objects, the German Empire quickly became a key global player. Simultaneously the directors of the Müze-i Hümayun (Imperial Museum), Osman Hamdi Bey and later Halil Edhem Eldem, established protectionist campaigns against Western access to antique sites. On the eve of the First World War, German and Ottoman archaeologists enjoyed close relations but disputes over the protection of cultural heritage also created a distinct rivalry. Disputes simmered over issues such as the control over cultural assets, the dispossession of antiquity collections, the translocation of artefacts, a common understanding for collaborative archaeological activities and even the protocols for the protection of monuments.
Notwithstanding these disagreements between archaeologists and museum directors, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in August 1914. But in contrast to the expulsion of British or French archaeologists from the Ottoman Empire, the outbreak of the war did not threaten German art policy and archaeological activity on Ottoman soil. In 1916, museum director and archaeologist Theodor Wiegand travelled to the Near East and became head of the German Turkish Commando for Monument Protection (Deutsch-türkische Denkmalschutz-Kommando) with the IV Ottoman Army under Ahmed Cemal Paşa. As member of the Ottoman triumvirate, Ahmed Cemal, wanted to impress upon the Syrian population the necessity and importance of preserving the Empire’s cultural heritage. Therefore, he initiated measures to protect antique buildings, mosques and sites and eventually wanted to involve the members of the Commando for Monument Protection. But the German wartime agenda concerning the archaeological activity aimed not only to carry out monument protection but also to occupy profitable sites and to maintain archaeological presence in a very important geostrategic region for the post-war future.
In 1917 and 1918 cultural assets were transported from the operational area of the IV Ottoman Army to Constantinople and even Berlin and acquired by museum collections. The translocation of artefacts raises several questions to guide this study of German-Ottoman relations during the First World War: did the transportation of cultural assets from Syria to Constantinople occurred on behalf of Ahmed Cemal and under joint knowledge of the Ottoman authorities? Did the Ottoman museum director, Halil Edhem Eldem, know about these plans and did he play a role in their execution? What was the agenda of the German museum director Theodor Wiegand? What was the purpose of the respective collection interests of the actors involved? To what extent did the translocation of cultural objects and the negotiations about the transport had an impact on the German-Ottoman relationship during the First World War?
Against this background this research ultimately examines the overlapping or rivalling aims and agendas of the German and Ottoman archaeology, military, politics and diplomacy during the First World War. In this context the study shows the interaction of several actors involved and provides an interdisciplinary contribution not only to the history of the German-Ottoman relations, but also for the history of cooperation and rivalry in interests concerning archaeology, monument protection and museums, as well as diplomacy and military during the First World War.