University of Basel

University Library

The Bibliotheca Afghanica comprises over 300 linear meters of specialist literature on Afghanistan and neighbouring regions. In addition, there are various special collections and bequests containing cartographic material, archival documents and images.

The Bibliotheca Afghanica was founded in 1974 on the initiative of the Swiss couple Paul and Veronika Bucherer-Dietschi. Initially, the focus was on the nature, culture and history of Afghanistan. In the years following the Soviet invasion in 1979, the collection was expanded to include information about the war, the development of the Soviet occupation and the resistance of the population. It also traces the change from a pending Islam characterized by Sufism to the jihadism of the Mujaheddin.

in 2023, the Bibliotheca Afghanica was bequeathed to the University Library Basel. The globally unique collection will now be gradually integrated into the university library, professionally archived and made available to researchers and the public.

The University Library Basel and the Bibliotheca Afghanica Foundation are grateful for the substantial contributions from the Swisslos Fonds Basel-Stadt and from the Sulger Foundation, which are being used to incorporate the Bibliotheca Afghanica's holdings.

Some focal points of the collection

Bequest of Peter Lumsden on the Afghan Boundary Commission of 1885/86

The Afghan Boundary Commission of 1885/86 was an agreement between Great Britain and the Russian Empire to define the north-western border of Afghanistan.  Peter Lumsden played an important role as the British representative and was instrumental in the negotiations and in determining the course of the border.

Materials: cartographic material, photographs, archival material, printed documents

[Translate to English:] Hentig

Estate and photo collection of Werner Otto von Hentig, Günther Voigt and Emil Rybitschka documenting the Hentig-Niedermayer expedition of 1915

The Hentig-Niedermayer Expedition was a German diplomatic and military mission to Afghanistan in 1915 with the aim of mobilising Afghan support against the influence of Great Britain. The Bavarian First Lieutenant Oskar Niedermayer led the military expedition, while the Prussian diplomat Werner Otto von Hentig was responsible for the diplomatic mission. Emil Rybitschka was an Austrian officer who had escaped from Russian captivity in Central Asia to Afghanistan and joined the German mission, but only received permission from the Emir to return to Austria after the end of the war.

Materials: Photographs, slides, archive material, printed matter, special collections (Poulaines)

The German Hindu Kush Expedition of 1935, led by Arnold Scheibe, aimed to explore the flora, fauna and ethnic diversity of the region. The expedition pursued both scientific intentions and political-colonial interests. It had excellent technical equipment and the University Library's holdings contain correspondingly high-quality photographic material.

Materials: slides, printed documents, photographs, documentation

[Translate to English:] Hallo Vélo

In 1940, Albert E. Engler takes a picture of Rudolf Stuckert: With an Afghan greyhound he is standing in front of the door of the house they shared in Kabul, a lovingly painted "Baselstab" - the heraldic symbol of the city of Basel - directly behind him. This photo visualises the importance of networking history. The photographic estates of the three Swiss architects and photographers Alfred E. Engler, Rudolf Stuckert and Alf de Spindler comprehensively document the everyday and working lives of three Swiss nationals during the Second World War in Afghanistan, a country that was very isolated at the time and had very few foreigners. At the same time, the three collections represent a globally unique reference inventory that is invaluable for questions of architectural history, urban and rural development and demography, as well as for many social science issues.

Thanks to support from the Memoriav Foundation, which is committed to the preservation of Switzerland's audiovisual cultural heritage, the three estates are currently being digitised and the rich metadata, which enables the photographs to be comprehensively classified and located, is being made accessible.

Holiday pictures of the de Spindler-family in Afghanistan, 1940s

[Translate to English:] Munjan-Tal

Between 1972 and 1978, Edwin Huwyler and Iren von Moos travelled to the Munjan Valley three times to document the everyday life and working structures of the Ismaili population as part of their ethnological research. Born in Obwalden in Switzerland, they knew life in inaccessible mountain regions very well themselves. Each of their three stays in the Munjan Valley lasted between three and five months, during which they established close relationships with local families.

Due to the invasion of the Soviet Union and the subsequent fighting, they were soon no longer able to travel to the Munjan Valley. This was followed by three more research stays - again for a few months each time - in Nuristan between 1979 and 1984, during which they entered Afghanistan illegally.

In the early 1980s, almost the entire Ismaili population of the Munjan Valley was forced to flee. The records and photographs of Edwin Huwyler and Iren von Moos thus document a specific way of life and a habitat that no longer existed in this form shortly after their last research visit. The documents produced during the field research are among the very few testimonies of this remote valley, most of whose villages are situated at over 3000 metres above sea level and which is closed off in the south by mountains over 6000 metres high. The photos, audio documents and field recordings are a unique source for research, not only in terms of their subject matter but also their scope.

 

[Translate to English:] Wist-Lit40

The Bibliotheca Afghanica comprises a multi-part collection focussing on the milieu of the Afghan resistance against the Soviet occupation. This includes around 22 linear metres of smaller publications (tracts, pamphlets, newspapers and magazines) as well as several series of high-quality lithographic posters, which came into the Bibliotheca Afghanica's holdings directly from the printing presses of the Afghan resistance in exile in Pakistan. The collection also includes wall calendars, wall newspapers, several series of propagandistically prepared matchboxes, pins, finger rings, stickers and other materials.
Materials: single-sheet prints, lithographs, brochures, etc.

[Translate to English:] Alifba

The Bibliotheca Afghanica's holdings include several collections of school textbooks, including the first school primers for Pashto and Dari from the 1950s with elaborate colour illustrations, as well as largely complete sets of teaching materials from the various resistance groups from the 1980s.

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