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GERMANIOI (also Karmanians, Carmanians), name of an ancient Persian tribe engaged in farming (Herodotus 1.125). Since this is the only mention of this name by Herodotus (it is absent from his list of Darius’s tributaries and Xerxes’s contingents), one may identify it with the name of Karmanioi, mentioned by Stephanus…

GERMANY. i. German-Persian diplomatic relations. ii. Archeological excavations and studies. iii. Iranian studies in German: Pre-Islamic period. iv. Iranian studies in German: Islamic period. v. German travelers and explorers in Persia. vi. Collections and study of Persian art. vii. Persia in German literature. See Supplement. viii. German cultural influence in Persia. ix. Germans in Persia. x. The Persian community…

GERMANY. i. GERMAN-PERSIAN DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS Around 1555 a man coming from Italy, who called himself the son of the “king of Persia,” turned up at the University of Wittenberg. It has been impossible, however, to establish the identity of this person because a letter of credence on behalf of the…

GERMANY ii. ARCHEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS AND EXCAVATIONS The first Germans who reported on the historical and archeological monuments of the ancient Persian world, were, as in other nations, adventurers and travelers of a different kind. Their reports can be significant as contemporary descriptions of the condition of monuments in late medieval…

GERMANY iii. IRANIAN STUDIES IN GERMAN: PRE-ISLAMIC PERIOD. This contribution aims at presenting an overview of the studies on all aspects of the culture of pre-Islamic Iran as conducted by German, Austrian, and Swiss scholars. One must be aware, however, of the fact that the concept of scholarship on Iran…

GERMANY iv. IRANIAN STUDIES IN GERMAN: ISLAMIC PERIOD It is not an easy task to define the subject of this contribution. It cannot be ascribed simply to one particular country, since German is the language used not only in Germany proper, but also in Austria and Switzerland. A number of…

GERMANY v. GERMAN TRAVELERS AND EXPLORERS IN PERSIA Hans Schiltberger, a Bavarian soldier, was the first German to give an eyewitness account of his travels in Persia. Initially captured by the Ottomans in 1396, he later became a prisoner of Tīmūr at the battle of Ankara (1402). In Timurid service,…

GERMANY vi. COLLECTIONS AND STUDY OF PERSIAN ART IN GERMANY Until the 19th century, Persian works of art entered collections in Germany by mere chance. From then on, works of art from all periods of Persian history were collected systematically to acquire knowledge of the world and to educate and…

GERMANY  viii. GERMAN CULTURAL INFLUENCE IN PERSIA German culture was and is very highly appreciated in Persia, but its influence on Persian culture is usually overrated. A lasting influence was mainly exercised on Persians who either attended a German school in Persia, had other personal contacts with Germans, studied in…

GERMANY ix. GERMANS IN PERSIA The Germans in Persia who have risen to a certain prominence fall mainly into one or more of the following categories: a) travelers and explorers (see above); b) experts in the service of the Persian government; c) agents and soldiers; d) members of German institutions…

GERMANY x. THE PERSIAN COMMUNITY IN GERMANY The history of the Persian community in Germany may be divided into three different phases: Before World War II. This phase differs from the two subsequent ones by the relatively low number of Persians residing in Germany. The first Persians who visited Germany…

GERMANY xi. Iranian Coins in the Federal Bank of Germany The origins of the coin collection of the Deutsche Bundesbank, a part of its important Münz- und Geldscheinsammlung, date from the time of World War I (1914-18), when the Deutsche Reichsbank received large numbers of coin donations from private individuals;…