Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00224

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20712

Winner of the 2020 Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award, sponsored by the Society of Architectural Historians

With lines extending from Bosnia to Baghdad to Medina, the Ottoman Railway Network (1868–1919) was the pride of the empire and its ultimate emblem of modernization—yet it was largely designed and bankrolled by German corporations. This exemplifies a uniquely ambiguous colonial condition in which the interests of Germany and the Ottoman Empire were in constant flux. German capitalists and cultural figures sought influence in the Near East, including access to archaeological sites such as Tell Halaf and Mshatta. At the same time, Ottoman leaders and laborers urgently pursued imperial consolidation. Germany and the Ottoman Railways explores the impact of these political agendas as well as the railways’ impact on the built environment. Relying on a trove of previously unpublished archival materials, including maps, plans, watercolors, and photographs, author Peter H. Christensen also reveals the significance of this major infrastructure project for the budding disciplines of geography, topography, art history, and archaeology.

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Print publication date October 2017 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300225648

EISBN 9780300259599

Illustrations 141

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

State visit to Jerusalem of Wilhelm II of Germany. Emperor and Empress at Mosque of Omar (Dome of the Rock)
Map showing the railway and border between Turkey and Syria at Kobani
Design for the First Great German Railway Network
Announcement of the completion of the Eskişehir-Ankara line
Cover with a satirical view of railway construction
Cover with a satirical view of railway construction
View of a German locomotive being transported across the Bosphorus
Indian prisoners of war working on the Baghdad Railway
View across a damaged railway intersection at Muslimie
Map of the Geodetic Areas of Interest to the Central Powers
View of Sarajevo
View of the Sinan Tekija
View of a railway bridge in Bosnia
Depiction of an Ottoman geography classroom
View of Hejaz Railway station under construction
View of Hejaz Railway workshop
View of Sirkeci station
The Railroad Station of Haydarpaşa / Lieutenant Colonel of the General Staff, Ali Rıza Bey
Battle of Domokos
Railway Attendant of the Anatolian Railway
Railway Track along the Gulf of Izmit
Karasu Gorge
Fellow in Bilecik
Meerschaum Dealer
Meerschaum Production in Eskişehir
Gesellschaft für den Bau von Eisenbahnen in der Türkei
View of a railway bridge under construction
Wartime photos of the Ottoman railways
Regarding the Cartography of East Africans (Part 1)
Regarding the Cartography of East Africans (Part 2)
Map of projected railway lines spanning the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf
Map of projected railway lines spanning the Mediterranean to Baghdad
Plan of Baghdad
Plan of Kirkuk and environs
Plan of Mosul and environs
Study of Zakho and environs
Urban studies folio depicting (from left) Antakya, Aleppo, Gaziantep, Birecik, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır, and Mardin
Map of Antakya
Map of Aleppo
Map of Birecik
Map of Mardin
Map of Gaziantep
Map of Iskenderun
Map of projected railway lines on Istanbul's Asian shore
Map of Baghdad, Kirkuk, and environs
Geological and ethnographic maps of the northern Levant
Plan of Baghdad and environs
Elevation view of Baghdad and environs
Map of the Hejaz Railway with projected line to Mecca
Foreword from a report by the German Archaeological Institute
View of excavation of Tumulus B at Gordium
View of the İnce Minareli Madrasa, Konya
View of the Aya Sofia, Konya
Phyrgian Lions in the Courtyard of the Kal-Han[e] in Konya
Phrygian and classical sculptural reliefs at the Bedestan, Konya
View of Sultan Han, Aksaray
View of Midas monument at Yazılıkaya near Eskişehir
Sketch map of the Hejaz Railway and the location of Mshatta with possible transportation routes
Persian Carpet Dealer on the Street
View of a fragment of Mshatta
Workers in front of a storehouse at the Izmit station
Construction of the Hejaz Railway near Tabuk
View of the quay facilities at Haydarpaşa under construction
German Baghdad Railway, Arabs working with picks E. of Aleppo
Tent camp in the Taurus Mountains
View of a warped railway bridge after the Mino-Owari Earthquake
Postcard depicting the Waschmühltalbrücke in Kaiserslautern
Proposal for the Kandilli-Rumelihisarı bridge
Varda viaduct, view from the north
View of the Euphrates railway bridge
View of an irrigation dam in the Konya plain
Postcard depicting the railway bridge at Amman
Railway bridge at Vardar
Rail tunnel north of Belemedik
View of Agoustos station
Design for Sirkeci station
Sirkeci station, north entry
Sirkeci station, waiting hall
Turkmenbashi (Krasnovodsk) station
Izmit station, view from the southeast
Beylikköprü station, view from southeast
Bilecik station, view from north
Roof detail of Eskişehir station
Konya station, main hall, ceiling and column detail
Konya station, view of worker's colony
Tabuk station, view from south
Abu el Na'am station
Medina station and environs
Column, Medina station, detail
Two designs for Haydarpaşa station
Two designs for Haydarpaşa station
Haydarpaşa station, view of exterior
Haydarpaşa station, view of administrative entry
Haydarpaşa station, view of saloon and restaurant entry
Haydarpaşa station, view of first- and second-class waiting room
Haydarpaşa station, view of restaurant
Haydarpaşa station, view of main hall
Haydarpaşa station, view of administrative hall
Ayrancı station, detail of ticket window
Ulukışla station, detail of house
Pozantı station, depot
Durak station, view from west
Adana station, view from north
Adana station, niche detail
View of Indian troops guarding the Baghdad Railway station
Postcard depicting Aleppo station
Tea service set
Drum cover
View of commemorative plaques
View of the German sarcophagus for Saladin
Design for a fountain in Constantinople, iteration 1
Design for a fountain in Constantinople, iteration 2
Design for a fountain in Constantinople, iteration 3
Photograph of a model of a design for a fountain in Constantinople
View of mosaic and epigraphic ornament under the dome of the German Fountain
Comic depiction of Abdülhamid II as a fountain in Berlin’s Tiergarten
Comic depiction of the destruction of the German Fountain
Hejaz Railway commemorative column
Postcard depicting Raimondo D'Aronco's telegraph monument in Damascus
Agricultural monument with the later addition of a statue of Mustafa Kemal
Memorial to railway workers
Memorial to fallen bus drivers
German cemetery
View of the Şale Köşk, on the grounds of Yıldız Palace
Watercolor of the Kaiser Wilhelm pavilion at Hereke
Entryway and biblical inscription of Gottlieb Schumacher's house at the Germany Colony
View of a Turnen class at the German Girl's School, Istanbul
View of the Auguste-Viktoria-Stiftung under the flag of the British
Interior view of the mosque fashioned from a rail car for the Hejaz Railway
Postcard depicting the Carski Drum (Kaiserstrasse), Banja Luka
Sketch of a plan for rail and port construction in Salonica
Map of Ankara
Panorama of Afyonkarahisar
View of Ereğli train station and environs
View of the Anatolian Railways tunnel at Bekdemir
View of Jaffa coastline and provisional railway construction
Prefabricated concrete elements in the Wieland family home and factory at Jaffa station, detail
View of a shutter holder on the Wieland family home and factory at Jaffa station
View of Al-’Ula station from southeast
Medina Stadtplan von 1914
Views of Carchemish station under construction

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Contents

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

Contents

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20713

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Acknowledgments

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

~The layered process of making objects that I outline in this book is one that I recognize as transposable too to the process of making a book. I owe a profound debt of gratitude to the many people who helped me form this book in myriad ways over many years. It has been a pleasure to work with Katherine Boller at Yale University Press, whose faith in this project set,...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20714

Notes on Dates, Transcription, and Format

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Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

~Throughout the book, dates are primarily given in A.D. Islamic calendar dates were converted using the Gregorian to Hijri dates converter at http://www.islamicity.org/Hijri-Gregorian-Converter/. When dates cannot be identified with a precise year in A.D., a range of years is listed.

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20715

Introduction

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

~Infrastructures make empires. The economic, social, and cultural systems of empires are guided by and given form and purpose through canals, bridges, tunnels, ports, and, perhaps most importantly, railways. It is no coincidence that infrastructures are often likened to the veins, nodes, and...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.1-8

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00224.001

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20716

Chapter subject tags:Railroads--Design and constructionTurkey--History--Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918MulticulturalismArchitecture, OttomanGeography

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Part One

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

Part One

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20717

1. Politics

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

Many historians have cast the failed second Ottoman siege of Vienna (1682–83) as a paradigmatic global power shift predicated on European technological superiority, ensuring Europe’s command of the world stage from the eighteenth century onward...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.10-24

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00224.002

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20718

Chapter subject tags:Railroads--Design and constructionCivil engineeringTurkey--History--Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918Baghdad (Iraq)--History

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2. Geography

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

After politics, geography is the most obvious context shaping the railways. An aphorism repeated by Alexander von Humboldt, the great German geographer, drives this point home: we can only understand the world, and hence what we do in it, through close physical inspection. In theory, this tenet renders all places and all people equal parts of an undifferentiated global space. This idea drove much...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.25-44

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00224.003

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20719

Chapter subject tags:Railroads--Design and constructionTurkey--History--Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918CartographyCivil engineering

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3. Topography

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

The formation of topographic knowledge at the turn of the twentieth century was the science of locating places in space, decoding toponyms, and knowing the distances and optimal travel routes between locations...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.45-67

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20720

Chapter subject tags:Railroads--Design and constructionCartographyTopographic maps

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4. Archaeology

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

The history of archaeology in the Ottoman empire mirrors the history of its railways. It began primarily as a British and French endeavor and gradually shifted to one where the most important sites were administered by Germans...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.68-80

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00224.004

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20721

Chapter subject tags:Railroads--Design and constructionAntiquitiesExcavations (Archaeology)--Middle East

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Part Two

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

Part Two

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20722

5. Construction

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

Objects exhibit the process of ambiguation. But what about people? The German-Ottoman union behind the construction of the Ottoman railways...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.82-95

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00224.005

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20723

Chapter subject tags:Railroads--Design and constructionCivil engineeringEthnic groups

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6. Hochbau

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

The people who made the railways were circumscribed by organizational frameworks. What, then, circumscribed the objects they produced...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.96-122

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00224.006

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20724

Chapter subject tags:Civil engineeringArchitecture--TurkeyArchitecture, OttomanBridges--Design and construction

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7. Monuments

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

~Railways necessitate stations. They also necessitate monuments, architectural projects, and public symbols well beyond the tracks. These works conveyed the Ottoman railways’ technological, geopolitical, and cultural importance on a civic register and to a wide audience. Unlike the railway stations and structures, these monuments express the vested interests...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.123-140

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00224.007

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20725

Chapter subject tags:MonumentsArchitecture--TurkeyChurch architectureArchitecture, Ottoman

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8. Urbanism

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

Through its construction of buildings and monuments, the Ottoman railway network had a widespread impact on the architectural landscape of the hundreds of cities and towns it traversed...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.141-151

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00224.008

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20726

Chapter subject tags:Railroads--Design and constructionUrban transportation--PlanningCity planningArchitecture, OttomanRailroad stations

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Conclusion

Germany and the Ottoman Railways: Art, Empire, and Infrastructure

~Late in 1911, the German archaeologist Theodor Wiegand issued a pithy pamphlet for an atypical readership. Comprising eleven pages of instructions, the document addresses the “gentlemen...

Author

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.152-156

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00224.009

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-20727

Chapter subject tags:Railroads--Design and constructionWiegand, Theodor, 1864-1936Architecture, OttomanCivil engineeringGermany--Historiography

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