The cabinet exhibition in the entrance area of the Orient Department commemorated the Orientalist, explorer and painter Julius Euting from Stuttgart. The occasion for the exhibition in cooperation with the Julius Euting Society was Euting’s 100th anniversary of his death (January 2, 2013) and his 175th birthday (July 11, 2014).

The Stuttgart-born scholar, explorer and painter Julius Euting worked as a librarian at the University of Tübingen after studying theology and oriental languages. In 1871 he moved to the new Imperial University and State Library in Strasbourg, where he was appointed director in 1900. He also served as an honorary professor of Semitic languages at the university there. He was particularly interested in epigraphy. Euting, who spoke numerous languages, traveled through the eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, and the interior of Arabia in 1883/84. On this occasion he covered about 2300 km on horseback and camel. His “Diary of a Journey in Inner Arabia” was published and received great attention. Research trips to distant countries on the one hand, a love of home on the other: Euting was president of the Vosges Club for many years and also opened up numerous hiking trails in the Black Forest. Euting died in Strasbourg on January 2, 1913.

At the center of the exhibition was the “Euting Collection”, which was donated to the Linden-Museum by Euting in 1912. Due to the fact that numerous pieces of the collection were destroyed or lost during the war, this important old collection of the Orient Department has not been shown in context for decades. The presentation was based on the reappraisal of the collection in recent years, exciting rediscoveries and a valuable new acquisition. The exhibits took visitors on Euting’s travels – such as a camel saddle with numerous accessories.

The objects collected by Euting are evidence of the everyday culture of the areas traveled. However, they were also part of Euting’s life at home as travel souvenirs. The “Euting Collection” reveals a multifaceted life that invites reflection.