The German Hindu Kush Expedition of 1935

The German Hindu Kush Expedition of 1935 was initiated by the agronomist Theodor Roemer and the botanist Wilhelm Troll and supported by the DFG, the University of Halle, diplomatic circles and industrial companies. Its aim was to track down "original" forms of cultivated plants in the remote regions of Nuristan and Chitral (now Afghanistan and Pakistan) in order to utilise their genetic potential for German plant breeding. The expedition took place in the context of international competition for genetic resources, which was inspired by Nikolai Vavilov's theory of "centres of origin" (1927). The aim was to collect and cross local plants with German varieties to increase yield and resistance. At the same time, the research was combined with anthropological and "racial" studies in which local populations were classified according to supposedly "Aryan characteristics" - an expression of the ideological penetration of agronomy and anthropology in the Third Reich.

The project examines the expedition as a multidisciplinary and politically charged endeavour that pursued geopolitical, diplomatic and economic interests in addition to scientific research. The German-Afghan co-operation combined scientific and political objectives: While Germany offered infrastructure and technological expertise in Afghanistan, the regime used the expedition for cultural propaganda and to expand its influence in Central Asia. At the same time, the ideological significance of the expedition remained ambivalent: different aspects were emphasised depending on the addressee, such as economic and scientific for the DFG and "racial" for popular science publications.

Theoretically, the project ties in with the concept developed by Mitchell G. Ash of the interaction of "science and politics as resources for each other". It is less concerned with the individual political convictions of the participants than with the networks, alliances and conflicts between scientific, political and economic actors. The sources are the extensive archive holdings of the Leopoldina, the Bibliotheca Afghanica (Basel), the Moesgaard Museum (Aarhus), the Federal Archives, the Federal Foreign Office and other institutions. In addition to correspondence, reports and publications, photographs of the expedition will also be analysed.