Oppenheim's archeological treasures

Baron Max von Oppenheim (1860-1946), whose passion was the culture of the East, found impressive antique palaces and well preserved sculptures in 1899 at the Tell Halaf site, the former residence of an Aramaic prince from the early first century BC. It's located in modern-day Syria near the Turkish border. The discovery was an archeological sensation and is currently on show in Bonn.

Max von Oppenheim was born into a family of bankers in Cologne, Germany. After studying law he traveled to places now belonging to Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and Turkey. His parents financed his expeditions. From 1896 to 1909, Oppenheim worked as an attaché at the German Consulate General in Cairo.

In Cairo Oppenheimer (pictured above riding a horse) learned to speak Arabic. In contrast to many other Europeans, he also talked with roaming desert dwellers, Bedouins and locals from humble homes. He socialized with pan-Islamist representatives who were trying to free themselves from the colonial rulers. That's why the Brits - then the colonial masters - started mistrusting Oppenheim.

It is thought to be the Bedouins who told Oppenheim about eerie stone paintings that scared them so much that they buried them again. They took Oppenheim to the spot and that's how he found Tell Halaf, the former residence of an Aramaic prince from the early first century BC. Because Oppenheimer often had photographers with him on his expeditions, the spectacular discovery is well documented.

Oppenheim returned to the archeological site in 1911 and started excavations, which lasted two years. Around 500 locals were obliged to help. What came to light were the West Palace, reliefs with animals and humans painted on them, fascinating stone sculptures, the North-Eastern Palace, city walls, city gates, gravesites, and a so-called cult room.

In the early 20th century it was common practice that treasures found by Europeans were exported - sometimes officially, sometimes secretly - and brought to national museums. Extensive collections of antique, historical and peculiar objects, such as the Turkish bathing stilts from the 18th or 19th century (pictured) were a means of demonstrating power and being perceived as a cultural nation.

Initially, many findings remained in the Ottoman Empire because Oppenheim couldn't agree with authorities on exporting the treasures to the German Empire. But instead of leaving the figures and murals with the Ottomans, Oppenheim brought them to his expedition house, while storing parts of his collection in his villa in Cairo.

During World War I Oppenheim was responsible for propaganda in the German embassy in Constantinople (now Istanbul). After the war, he founded the Orient Research Institute. Then in 1930 he established the Tell Halaf Museum in Berlin, which was destroyed by bombs in World War II. What remained were only fragments which were stored in the basement of the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

Oppenheim, who died a couple of years after the end of World War II, had specific ideas about how elaborate the portal of the West Palace must have loobeen. However, his reconstruction drafts are not coherent and the measurements don't match with the stone slabs and sculptures that were found. His drafts were still used as a model for the façade of the National Museum in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

It was only after German reunification that the German Research Association and the "Foundation of the Bank Company Sal. Oppenheim" financed the elaborate restoration of the remains of Tell Halaf, which lasted almost nine years. From April 30 to August 1,0 the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn is showing the remains together with a virtual film reconstruction.