Evening dedicated to German scholar-in-exile and artist Traugott Fuchs (1906-97) through FILM and EXHIBITION

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INVITATION to an

Evening dedicated to German scholar-in-exile and artist Traugott Fuchs (1906-97) through FILM and EXHIBITION

Tuesday, May 21, 2024, 19:00 at the

Orient-Institut Istanbul

In Cooperation with the Department of History of Boğaziçi Üniversitesi and with the Department of Literature of İstanbul Üniversitesi

Welcome and greetings

First public screening of the new documentary film 

“Traugott” (Original German with subtitles in Turkish; director: Dirk Schäfer; producer: Richard Wittmann)

Guided tour through the exhibition “Gönülsüz Sürgün: Çorum Hatıraları, 1944-46” (Negligent Internment: Recollections of Çorum, 1944-46)

German Romance Studies scholar Traugott Fuchs arrived in Istanbul in 1934 together with his teacher Prof. Leo Spitzer who fled the persecution of Jewish scholars in Nazi Germany. Fuchs has taught German and French philology at İstanbul Üniversitesi and Boğaziçi Üniversitesi for more than forty years. In addition to his academic life he was also a prolific painter with close connections to Turkish artists of his time.

The documentary film “Traugott” (German with Turkish subtitles) by fim maker Dirk Schäfer and produced by Richard Wittmann introduces Traugott Fuchs as a multi-faceted individual who has inspired generations of colleagues and students across disciplinary boundaries and whose idealistic, romantic outlook on life has carried him through the ups and downs of life in his chosen home country Turkey. The film familiarizes us also with the rich estate consisting of philological studies, thousands of sketches, close to 400 paintings, a hundred diaries and a wealth of professional and private correspondence.

The Traugott Fuchs Archive at the Orient-Institut Istanbul

With the renovation of the historic Clubhouse Teutonia completed and the Orient-Institut Istanbul’s relocation to its new premises, we consider ourselves very fortunate to also be able to house the Traugott Fuchs Archive and make it accessible for research. For the first time, both, the text archive, which for many years was meticulously preserved as part of the Archive and Documentation Center of Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, and the extensive collection of artwork produced by Traugott Fuchs, which was kept with no less commitment and care at a private home for decades, are housed under one roof at the Orient-Institut Istanbul to serve the academic community.

The exhibition “Gönülsüz Sürgün: Çorum Hatıraları, 1944-46. Alman ve Avusturyalıların ben-anlatıları ışığında Traugott Fuchs’un Çorum resimleri” (Negligent Internment: Memories of Çorum, 1944-46. The Çorum paintings by Traugott Fuchs in light of the testimonies of Germans and Austrians) addresses the experience of being an “exile in exile” as an internee in Anatolia after fleeing Nazi Germany that Traugott Fuchs shared with hundreds other holders of German passports after Turkey’s termination of diplomatic relations with Germany in August 1944. Fuchs’ fascinating paintings of Çorum will be on display together with autobiographical accounts of Austrians and Germans that were written during their internment in Çorum between 1944 and 1946 to throw some light on an understudied period of Austro- and German-Turkish relations in the 20^th century.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our program in honor of Traugott Fuchs and all who have contributed to the preservation of his memory!

VENUE

Orient-Institut Istanbul

Galip Dede Cad. 65, Şahkulu Mah., TR – 34421 Istanbul

Tel: +90 212 293 60 67 oiist@oiist.org   www.oiist.org