Three reports from three centuries

Europeans have travelled to the land of the Hindu Kush for centuries. What picture of Afghanistan have they conveyed? The aim is to answer this question with three examples from the past three centuries:

Florentia Sale (1790 - 1853)

Lady Florentia Sale, wife of a British army officer, experienced the first Anglo-Afghan War of 1839-1842 first hand. She kept a diary and wrote letters about her experiences, accounts that we will present at our exhibitions.

Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908 –1942)

The committed Swiss travel writer and social critic found in Afghanistan not only exotic landscapes and people but also a piece of home.

Johanna Häfliger (* 1945)

Afghanistan as Johanna Häfliger has experienced it has been marked by four decades of war, destruction and religious fanaticism. But she also encountered generous selfless hospitality and willingness to help.

The Afghanistan Institute

The Swiss Afghanistan Institute in Bubendorf (BL) provides a safe home to one of the most important collections of artefacts from Afghanistan in Europe. In its guest exhibition, the Afghanistan Institute showcases its commitment to protecting cultural artefacts from Afghanistan and displays panels on “Germany – Afghanistan, 100 years of friendship and cooperation” commissioned by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.