THE AFRICA FASCINATION OF THE BIEBER FAMILY – AFRICA

THE AFRICA FASCINATION OF THE BIEBER FAMILY – AFRICA

THE AFRICA FASCINATION OF THE BIEBER FAMILY –
AFRICA WAS ALWAYS PRESENT
Friedrich Julius Bieber (1873 – 1924)
This wonderful and true story starts on Christmas Eve in the year 1881 in
Vienna, Austria. Friedrich Julius, called Fritzl, was just over eight years old when
his father presented to him as Christmas gift a book: „Quer durch Africa (Across
Africa)“, describing the travels of Gerhard Rohlfs through the Sahara and
Verney Cameron in East Africa. Interestingly, Ethiopia is mentioned only once in
this book. However, it raised Fritzl’s interest in Africa – he just wanted to see
this continent. In later years he wrote into this book: „Received from Papa at
Christmas 1881. Perhaps a foreboding of my future destiny.“ His intention was
to study at the University.
Unfortunately, when Fritzl was thirteen years old his father died and there was
no money for him to study. Because he was a rather small and slim boy, his
mother found for him an apprenticeship in a shoemaker’s shop.
But he still wanted to travel to Africa. And in 1890, with his mother’s
permission, he started his journey. By train and by foot he reached Triest and
Fiume/Rijeka on the Adriatic Sea. But how to get to Africa? This was not
possible, therefore he returned to Vienna. He decided to try another route and
the same year in November he left Vienna again. This time he went along the
River Danube to the Black Sea, also using ships on the river where he helped
out in the kitchens. He crossed the Black Sea and reached Istanbul in Turkey.
But again, no way to Africa and in July 1891 Fritzl had to return to Vienna. By
foot, of course.
Back in Vienna, he found a job as sales assistant in a bookshop (Fig. 1). And this
gave him the opportunity to find books about Africa and gain much knowledge
about the land of his dreams. One of the books he read was „Reise durch Kusch
und Habesch (Journey through Kusch and Habesch), by Eduard Freiherr von
Callot“. Callot was an Austrian ex-Army Officer who arrived in Egypt in 1831. He
got to know Sultan Mehmed Ali who appointed him Colonel in the Egyptian
Army and sent him as special envoy to Habesch. Bieber published this book in
1923 in Leo Frobenius‘ „Afrikanisches Heldentum“ and wrote in the
introduction i.a. „More than thirty years ago this booklet fell into my hands and
gave my yearning for Africa a target – the Highlands of Ethiopia“.
- 2 –
In 1892 F. J. Bieber made his first journey to Africa. He had started to hold
public lectures about Africa and particularly about Ethiopia, and this brought
him in contact with two retired Army Officers, Alexander Varges and Albert
Ragg. Bieber was taken along as expert on Africa. The intention was to travel to
the Sudan and to free the Austrian Rudolf Slatin, one of the European captives
of the Mahdi. The three actually got as far as Eritrea, then an Italian colony. But
the Italian authorities got to know about their intentions and therefore did not
allow them to cross the border into Ethiopia. They had to return to Austria.
Back in Vienna, Bieber found employment as official in the Statistical Section of
the Ministry of Trade of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy, and he remained in
the Ministry until his retirement in 1923. He started to give public lectures
again, in Vienna and the surrounding cities in Lower Austria. Not only did he
talk about his journeys, but he spoke more about the possibilities of trade
between the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy (the only European power without
colonies) and Ethiopia (the only independent country in Africa).
On 6th March, 1901, he got married to Berta Pilik (Fig. 2). Their first son,
Friedrich, was born in December 1901 and their second son, Otto, in July 1906.
In 1904 the family moved to Auhofstrasse 144 in Ober St. Veit, part of Hietzing,
the 13th District of Vienna, where the family lived until 1939. Friedrich Julius
was away from home often and for long times. But he was always very much
attached to his wife Berta and whenever possible, he sent letters to her and
postcards.
In 1904, Bieber is successful in his efforts to promote trade between Ethiopia
and Austria-Hungary. Under the leadership of the Hungarian businessman
Arnold Szél, about seventy companies get together and finance a journey to
Ethiopia by Leopold Morgenstern, a director of Szél’s company and Friedrich
Julius Bieber. Bieber is given six months leave of absence with pay, which
shows some official interest, and they depart Vienna on 26th January, 1904.
Bieber and Morgenstern travel by ship to Aden and from there to Djibouti,
from where they take the train to Direh Dawa, then the end of the Ethiopian
railway. After a visit to Harar (Fig. 5) they organise a caravan, which takes them
to Addis Ababa, where they arrive on 29th March, 1904. From Vienna, Bieber
had been in contact with Alfred Ilg, Minister of State of Emperor Menelik II.
- 3 Already on the day after their arrival they can pay a visit to Mr. Ilg, who proves
to be very supportive and helpful.
On 12th April, 1904, Bieber and Morgenstern are received in audience by
Emperor Menelik II. (Fig. 4). The Emperor likes them straight away and is
particularly impressed by Bieber, who can talk a bit of Amharic (which he
taught himself in Vienna).
The Austrians have brought to Ethiopia 36 wooden crates of gifts and samples,
which they now start to distribute. Emperor Menelik II. inspects the gifts
several times. He is very interested in the idea of opening a branch
establishment. The Austrians are invited to take part in a Geber at the Gibi.
Already in May, Ilg hands over to them the Emperor‘s list of orders, with a total
value of 17.000 Francs, and also a Letter of Establishment for Szél’s company.
On 28th May, 1904, Bieber and Morgenstern were honoured by receiving the
insignia of the Order of the Star of the Kingdom of Ethiopia, 3rd Class (Fig. 6).
On 6th June, 1904, the Austrians depart from Addis Ababa. Bieber was, of
course, very happy and excited to have been able to visit the land of his dreams
– Ethiopia. But now he is relieved that the return journey to Austria has started
and that he will soon see his wife and child.
Back in Vienna, Bieber hands over to Government the draft for a Treaty of
Trade and Friendship between Austria-Hungary and Ethiopia and it is agreed to
send an official Mission to Ethiopia. The Mission departs from Vienna on 2nd
January, 1905, and is led by Ludwig Ritter von Hoehnel, commander of the
cruiser „Panther“, on which most of the delegation to Ethiopia will travel. A
member of the Mission is Baron von Mylius, who wants to establish plantations
and do trade in Ethiopia. Friedrich Julius Bieber joins the Mission as expert on
Ethiopia and as interpreter, as he is now quite fluent in Amharic.
The Mission travels by sea to Djibouti and from there by special train to Direh
Dawa. After a visit to Harar, where they are received by Ras Makonnen, the
journey to Addis Ababa by caravan starts. Because of problems with their
helpers, the caravan has to stop unexpectedly in a small village. There they
meet Lij Tafari, the young son of Ras Makonnen. He will later become Emperor
Haile Selassie I.
- 4 On 9th March, 1905, the Austrians arrive in Addis Ababa and are given a great
reception. They are lodged in the summer palace of Ras Wolde Giorgis and
meet many dignitaries and old friends of Bieber (Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, Fig. 10).
On 13th March, 1905, Hoehnel is received in private audience by Emperor
Menelik II. and hands over the draft of the Treaty. The next day in a great
ceremony the decorations and gifts from the Emperor of Austria are handed
over. Bieber writes in his diary: „The work of many years has been rewarded in
these few hours, today’s happenings are exclusively my making, my ideas have
laid the foundations …“.
On 21st March, 1905, the Treaty of Trade and Friendship is signed solemnly and
two days later the Mission departs from Addis Ababa. Bieber has explained to
Mylius his intention to travel to Kaffa and Mylius decides to join him. Mylius is a
great hunter and he is anxious to kill an elephant. On 1st April, 1905, they have
audience with Emperor Menelik and present to him their gifts. Without
problem they receive from the Emperor permission to travel to Kaffa and to
hunt all game, but only one elephant.
On 19th April, 1905, the caravan of the Austrians departs for Kaffa. From the
Emperor they have received a letter of safe conduct, and Ras Wolde Giorgis,
who is very interested in their journey, provides an attendant to accompany
them. The caravan consists of 40 men, 3 horses, 6 riding mules and 24 animals
to carry loads. They travel through Nonno, Limmu and Ennarea to Djimma.
Here they pay several visits to King Abba Djiffar (Fig. 11).
On 7th June, 1905, Bieber and Mylius reach the River Godjeb. With the crossing
of the Godjeb they have arrived in Kaffa, where they will remain until 2nd July,
1905. They visit many places, including the towns of Bonga, Andracha (Fig. 12),
Shaada, the emperors‘ graves on the Sosha Hills and Sharada. Bieber has now
learned the Kaffa-language and he writes nearly continously in his diary. Not
only what is happening, but many stories old Kaffechos tell him about their
country and its history. He is also producing many photographs, and at this
time cameras were rather cumbersome machines. Besides, he prepares maps
of their journey, including the landscape. The amount of work he did during
this rather short stay in Kaffa is really amazing, and the result is his two-volume
Work about Kaffa, totalling about 1.000 pages. He also collects all objects he
can obtain from the people, most of whom are very nice and friendly to him.
The total of his collection is more than five hundred items.
- 5 -
Through Konta, Kulla, Jimma and Nonno the Austrians return to Addis Ababa,
where they arrive on 12th August, 1905. They have audiences with Emperor
Menelik, who continues to show great interest, and meet Alfred Ilg and other
friends. On 3rd September, 1905, they depart Addis Ababa and return safely to
Vienna.
Back in Vienna, Bieber continues his work in the Trade Statistical Services. In
September 1907 an Ethiopian Delegation spends about one week in Vienna.
Unfortunately the Austrian-Hungarian authorities are rather slow in dealing
with the results of the Mission’s journey in 1905 and in the end are overtaken
by World War I. Baron von Mylius returns to Ethiopia, but is not successful in
his plantation project. He fares better in Nicaragua, where he goes next.
But Bieber wants to visit Ethiopia again. The Chamber of Commerce in Vienna
puts him in touch with Mr. Emil G. Pick, an industrialist. Bieber departs from
Vienna on 1st February, 1909. In Suez he is joined by Pick who had travelled
ahead. They arrive in Addis Ababa on 16th March, 1909. Bieber is surprised by
how the capital has changed so much in a short time. Many new buildings have
sprung up, the Gibi is hardly recognisable due to reconstructions and additions.
And the population has doubled to about 100.000 inhabitants. Bieber meets
many old friends and already on 24th March, 1909, is granted audience with
Emperor Menelik. The Emperor is sick and has aged, but the eyes are clear and
the mind is not impaired. The Austrians explain that they want to travel to
Gambella on the Baro River and then on to the Sudan and without hesitation
Menelik approves this plan, and shortly thereafter they get the Letter of Safe
Conduct.
On 22nd April, 1909, the expedition through the western parts of Ethiopia to
the Nile starts. Bieber is particularly anxious to „get to know the old Ennarea,
the North of the highland of Kaffa, then the areas which are probably the
original home of the people of Kaffa, the Gonga or Kaffecho, the country below
Habesh, the country on the Blue and White Nile and Meroe, the old Kush“. On
the way they ascend the Sukuela (Suqualla) Volcano, cross the watershed of
the Awash and the Blue Nile and cross the Turkur Mountains. On 24th May,
1909, they reach Gambella, from where a steamer takes them to Khartoum,
and from there by train to Port Said. Emile Pick continues his journey around
the world, and Bieber returns by steamer to Triest in Austria.
- 6 –
Back in Vienna, Bieber takes up his work at the Trade Statistical Services. And,
of course, he continues his scientific work. Since his youth he has been a
prolific writer and published many articles and papers in geographic magazines
about his travels and about Ethiopia.
In 1914 Bieber planned another expedition to the Sudan, but his plans were
frustrated by the start of World War I. Because of his sickly condition (on the
way to the Nile in 1909 he had caught Malaria which at this time could not be
treated) he was not drafted into the Army. He continued to work on his twovolume book about Kaffa: „Kaffa – ein altkuschitisches Vokstum in Inner-Afrika
(Kaffa – An ancient Cushitic People in Central Africa)“, published in 1920 and
1923. Each volume has more than 500 pages and many drawings, pictures and
photographs.
At the end of January 1923 Bieber was transferred into permanent retirement,
due to his medical condition. However, he planned a new expedition to Africa.
For some time he had been in contact with Leo Frobenius in Munich. Several
times he visited Munich and in the summer of 1923 he is appointed as a
corresponding member of the Cultural-Morphological Institute. Together with
Leo Frobenius Bieber wanted to travel to the Sudan in 1924. However, he took
another journey, as his son Otto wrote later on.
On 3rd March, 1924, at the age of 51 years, Friedrich Julius Bieber died at home
in Vienna. A very rich, exciting and unusual life had come to an end (Fig. 3).
Note:
The description of Friedrich Julius Bieber’s life is based on the work by
Dr. Josef Holzapfel „Afrikaforscher Friedrich Julius Bieber (1873 – 1924),
Wien 2012 (available in English and German).
- 7 –
Otto Bieber (1906 – 1988)
Friedrich Julius and Berta Bieber had two sons: Friedrich, born in 1901, and
Otto, born in 1906. Interestingly, Friedrich had hardly any interest in Africa, but
Otto was from the start very excited about the work of his father and the
continent.
Whenever the father was in Vienna and had time, on Sundays he took his wife
and sons on walks through the Vienna Woods (Fig. 13). During these walks he
narrated to his family about his travels in Africa, especially Ethiopia and Kaffa.
His love for Africa sprang over to his son Otto. When Friedrich Julius died, Otto
was not yet 18 years old. It was not possible for him to study and he started as
office apprentice of D. Gestetner Company, a British manufacturer of
duplicating machines, who had a branch in Vienna. Later he became a salesman
for this company and soon was the most successful one. In 1934 he married
Maria Schauberger and in 1936 he left Gestetner and started his own company,
importing duplicating machines from Germany and selling these in Austria. This
work he continued throughout his life until his retirement.
But Otto had been taken up by the love for Africa. In 1929 and 1934, on the
fifth and tenth anniversaries of the death of his father, he gave lectures on the
radio about life and work of Friedrich Julius Bieber, and also held press
conferences.
In 1936 he planned and organised the exhibition „Kaffi Tatitino“ at the
Hagenbund in Vienna. The exhibition was very successful (Fig. 14).
In 1941 Otto Bieber was drafted into the Army.
In 1944, on the twentieth anniversary of the death of his father, he gave many
public lectures, also on the radio. And he wrote a serie of ten articles in a
weekly magazine in Vienna: „Kaffa, das Reich des Kaisergottes (Kaffa, realm of
the Emperor God)“. When World War II threatened to get to Vienna, with the
help of the Vienna Museum of Ethnology, he managed to transfer his father’s
ethnological collection and his scientific works, to Spitz, a town on the River
Danube about 70 km from Vienna. He also sent his family (mother Berta, wife
Maria, son Klaus) to Spitz. Collection and family had been kept at his parents
home at Auhofstrasse 144 in Hietzing until 1939, when Otto Bieber moved
everything to a greater apartment at Tuersgasse 21, just round the corner.
- 8 When World War II ended in 1945, Otto Bieber was in Vienna, but family and
collection were still in Spitz. Otto was very worried about the conditions there,
but how to get in touch? At this time, there was not even a telephone
connection. So he decided to go by bicycle from Vienna to Spitz. On the way he
was stopped by officers from the Russian Army. They had then already
occupied Lower Austria. At the end of the war, Otto had been in contact with
the Austrian Resistance Movement and before going on his trip, he had asked
his friends there to give him a letter of recommendation. This he showed to the
Russian soldiers who had stopped him. They looked at the letter briefly, shook
their heads (this must be a spy) and arrested Otto. He became a Prisoner of
War, and passed through several camps, finally to one in Rumania.
There, he was commanded to a meeting with three Russian officers. They
asked him to explain why he had been arrested. So he told them about the
Africa-collection of his father which he had moved to Spitz, and that he had
been worried about conditions there. At this meeting another prisoner of war,
a young German, was acting as interpreter German/Russian. When Otto spoke
about his father, this interpreter told him: be quiet, I will be back shortly. He
explained something to the Russians and left. After a short time he returned
holding a newspaper cutting in his hands. He spoke again briefly to the
Russians, showed the cutting to Otto and told him: tell me what is written in
this article. It was one of the articles he had written in 1944 about his father
and Kaffa. Of course he could explain the contents of this article and the
German explained this to the Russians. It was obvious to them that Otto Bieber
had been telling the truth and Otto was released and sent back to Vienna. The
German had received this article in the last letter he had received from his wife
before becoming a prisoner of war. What a story – but it is really true.
And there and then Otto Bieber made up his mind to write a book about life
and work of his father. This he did and the book was published in Vienna in
1948 under the title „Geheimnisvolles Kaffa – im Reich der letzten KaiserGoetter (Mysterious Kaffa – in the realm of the last Emperor Gods)“.
Later in 1945, again with the help of the Museum of Ethnology, collection and
family were transferred back to the apartment in Ober St. Veit. In 1946 the
greater part of the collection was given as loan to the Museum of Ethnology in
Vienna, and sold later on.
- 9 Besides working in his company, Otto Bieber continued to hold lectures and
write articles about his father and Kaffa. But above all, he wanted to travel to
Africa himself. He had several ideas and projects, but they could not be
realised. In 1953 he met Prof. Hans Weis, a geographer who desperately
wanted to visit Tibesti, an area in the East of the Sahara. They decided to do
this expedition together and were joined by Andreas Kronenberg, a student of
ethnology. Otto Bieber financed the journey. They left at the end of 1953 and
returned after three months (Fig. 16). Otto was so fascinated by the people of
Tibesti and the landscape (mountains of up to 3.000 metres height practically
coming out of the sandy desert) that making a movie about Tibesti became a
must for him. And a year later a film team of three left Vienna, again financed
by Otto. He could not take part, because of his company. The team returned
after four months with 10.000 metres of movie material (36 mm, black&white),
audio recordings and many photographs. A one-hour movie was produced with
the title „Im Namen Allah’s (In the Name of Allah)“ and made public in 1958.
In 1954 Emperor Haile Selassie I. visited Europe and came to Vienna in
November. Here he was shown the Bieber/Kaffa Exhibition at the Museum of
Ethnology (Fig. 15). Otto Bieber was present during this visit. While being
shown around, the Emperor asked: „Does anyone know what happened to the
Crown of Kaffa?“ Otto Bieber answered: „The Crown of Kaffa is the property of
the Ilg Family and is kept in a bank safe in Zurich“. The Emperor cut short his
programme and went to Zurich immediately. There he negotiated with Mrs. Ilg
and her two sons. Alfred Ilg had died nearly twenty years ago. He received the
Crown from them and took it back to Addis Ababa, where it is now on show at
the Institute of Ethiopian Studies.
In 1955, on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the accession to the throne
by Emperor Haile Selassie, there were great celebrations in Ethiopia. And there
was also organised a large trade exhibition, at which European countries had
pavillions. Otto Bieber was able to convince the Chamber of Commerce to
organise an Austrian Pavillion. Therefore he was a member of the Austrian
delegation that flew to Addis Ababa. It was, of course, great for him to visit
Ethiopia, the land of his father’s dreams. Because Otto Bieber was so involved
in and with Africa, he had many visitors at his home with the same interest. He
was called „Africa-Bieber“ (Fig. 18). And this is how his son got to Africa.
- 10 –
Klaus Bieber (born 1940)
I am the last in the Bieber-Family, born 1940 in Vienna. And I am the only one
who became a certified African, but more of this later. From my early
childhood, Africa was around me. Because my father’s mother Berta, widow of
late Friedrich Julius, was staying with us, there was no separate room for me.
Where to let me sleep? Of course in the Africa Room (Fig. 17). There was a
small couch, on which I used to sleep at night for about eight years. I remember
there was a leopard skin on this couch, which I had to take away whenever I
went to sleep. Around me were the library and objects and pictures from
Ethiopia. And soon my father allowed me to join him whenever he had visitors,
connected with and to Africa. And, like his father, on Sundays he took his wife
and son on walks through the Vienna Woods, when he told them about Africa.
Therefore I was under continous „African influence“.
In the 1950s my father met Dr. Franz Sitter, a biologist, who then travelled to
West Africa where he spent 1 ½ years in the French colonies and Liberia. After
his return to Vienna he gave public lectures about his experiences. I had just
done my final high-school exams, but needed some more exams to be able to
study Ethnology. So I had some free time to sell the tickets at these lectures of
Dr. Sitter at the University of Vienna. This is how I got to know him. At the time
an Austrian was living in Kenya and from there exporting live animals. He was
at one of Sitter’s lectures and afterwards asked him, whether he would want to
go for him to Liberia to catch live Pigmy Hippopotamus (a small version of the
Hippo, which is found only in an area from the East of Sierra Leone through
Liberia to the West of Ivory Coast). Sitter agreed straight-away and was looking
for someone to go with him. My father offered his son, Klaus. And Klaus
agreed, of course.
On 12th of May, 1959, Dr. Sitter and I left Vienna for Liberia. It was planned
that we would stay there not longer than two years. In my case it got a bit
longer, nearly fifty years. We had with us a second-hand jeep and a small twoseater boat with an outboard engine. By ship we travelled to Monrovia in
Liberia and had planned to go up to the Cestos River, right in the middle of
dense forest. Unfortunately the jeep developed serious engine problems and
we could not use it. We still had the small motorboat. Therefore we decided to
go to the West of Liberia, to Cape Mount Province. There, near Sierra Leone,
lies Fisherman’s Lake, which is fed by several creeks. With our boat we could
use these creeks as roads. We spent about six months in the forest there and
- 11 –
caught two Pigmy Hippos. Unfortunately the transportation to Monrovia was
very difficult, and we lost them both (Fig. 19).
Just at this time Dr. Salk (USA) developed a vaccine against polyomyelitis. And
for this work monkeys were needed, which were obtained from India. We got
to know that in Sierra Leone, near the border with Liberia, the people were
able to catch monkeys. So we gave up the Pigmy Hippos in Liberia, went by
canoe over the River Mano, which forms the border between Liberia and Sierra
Leone, and after several months ended up in the village of Joru, about twenty
miles from Kenema, capital of the Eastern Province. In Joru resided a
Paramount Chief, a lady, who was very helpful to us. We were able to buy and
export live monkeys and lived in Joru for about two years. We were in Joru
when Sierra Leone gained its independence on 27th April, 1961. Therefore later
I used to call myself „a colonial relic“.
In 1963 we moved to the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown, and in a suburb
started a poultry farm. Soon this place became too small for us and we moved
to Rokel, a village 17 miles from Freetown, where we bought nearly 100 acres
of land and built our own farm. We had about 25.000 chicken, a hatchery, pigs,
cattle, we grew bananas and maize and still exported animals.
At this time the Government of Sierra Leone wanted to bring tourists to the
country. Therefore on the beach near Freetown – an extremely beautiful six
miles long stretch of sand – a tourist hotel was built, with a capacity of 150
beds. Through series of coincidences we became the operators of the hotel,
which we opened in 1971. I became managing director of Cape Sierra Hotel.
We succeeded in interesting tour operators in England and also in Austria, and
from the second year onwards our hotel was fully booked throughout the year.
To provide more security for the Austrian tourists, I became Honorary Consul of
Austria to Sierra Leone in 1973, which I remained for 35 years (Fig. 21).
In 1974 Emperor Haile Selassie paid a visit to West Africa and also spent a few
days in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He attended a State Banquet at Cape Sierra
Hotel and I met him briefly. Through a coincidence I had been able to shake
hands with him in 1954, when he visited the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna.
I still remember his look, which appeared to me to be very wise.
- 12 –
In 1975 I resigned from the hotel and from the partnership with Dr. Sitter and
became an independent businessman. Until 1990 I was in charge of a factory
producing poultry and pig feeds, then I was involved in imports and exports. In
1989 I applied for citizenship of Sierra Leone. In the process, I had to see the
Secretary to the President. He remarked to me: „You are one of us and should
have done this a long time ago“. So it was quite easy and I became a certified
African. I am holding double citizenship since then.
On a personal level I was extremely fortunate. At Christmas 1970 I met a very
kind and wonderful African lady and we remained together until her death in
2006. Because she was an important personality she wanted to keep our
relationship secret and of course I respected her wish. Together we made
frequent trips to my parents in Austria, to England and to Italy. And my parents
visited Sierra Leone every year for Xmas and New Year (Fig. 20).
From 1992 Sierra Leone suffered a rebel war for ten years, and this of course
greatly affected the economy. After the death of my lady partner, I decided to
return to Austria. On 1st November, 2008, I arrived in Vienna. Here I am now
living as a pensioner with my Viennese wife whom I very unexpectedly met in
the house of the former Austrian Ambassador responsible for Sierra Leone.
I am very anxious to maintain the memory of my grandfather, without whose
life and work I would never have been able to live such a wonderful life in
Africa. I am voluntary assistant at the District Museum in Vienna – Hietzing,
which had bought the remaining items of the Kaffa collection, and where I am
now working on the Bieber Archives. Rather unexpectedly, I was able to visit
Kaffa in Ethiopia twice in 2011. In this year, UNESCO declared parts of the
highland forests in Kaffa, the original home of coffee, as World Biosphere
Reserves. I participated in the Inauguration Ceremony on 22nd March, 2011.
(Fig. 22, Fig. 23). As part of this ceremony, a street in Bonga, Kaffa, was named:
Friedrich Julius Bieber Avenue.
In September 2013 I participated in the „International Conference of Art and
Architecture in Ethiopia“, organised by Dr. Dorothea McEwan in Vienna
(Fig. 24). And in September 2014 Dr. Sayuri Yoshida visited Vienna. She is a
young Anthropologist from Japan, who has been researching in Kaffa since
2004, and she has spent a total of 32 months in Ethiopia.
As can be seen, I have left Africa, but I am still part of it.
Selected Literature, written in German:
Friedrich Julius Bieber: KAFFA – Ein Altkuschitisches Volkstum in Inner-Afrika,
Nachrichten ueber Land und Volk, Brauch und Sitte der Kaffitscho oder Gonga
und das Kaiserreich Kaffa
Band I – 500 Seiten, 216 Bilder im Satze, 11 Bildtafeln, Muenster i.W., 1920
Band II – 560 Seiten, 244 Bilder im Satze, 22 Bildtafeln, Wien, 1923
Both volumes are available as unchanged facsimile print, 2010, from
Fines Mundi GmbH Verlag, 66111 Saarbruecken, Germany
Friedrich Julius Bieber: Reise durch Aethiopien und den Sudan, 52 pages,
Wien, 1910
Otto Bieber: Geheimnisvolles Kaffa. Im Reich der Kaiser-Goetter, Wien, 1948
Annemarie Hermann: Der Afrikaforscher Friedrich Julius Bieber (1873 – 1924),
Phil. Diss., Univ. Wien, 1975
Vera Klenner: Die ethnographische Sammlung des oesterr. Afrikaforschers
F.J. Bieber im Bezirksmuseum Wien-Hietzing, Diplomarbeit, Univ. Wien, 2001
Hannes Stromberger: „Denn schliesslich is das alles nur mein Werk“ – der
oesterreichische Afrikareisende F.J. Bieber und die oesterreichisch –
aethiopischen Beziehungen, Diplomarbeit, Univ. Wien, 2007
Selected Literature, written in English:
Dr. Isabella Matauschek, Knowing the Exotic: Robert Heine-Geldern, F.J. Bieber
and Hugo Schuchart – 16 pages, Cambridge University, Austrian Studies,
Vol. 20, Colonial Austria and the Overseas (2012)
Dr. Josef Holzapfel, Friedrich Julius Bieber (1873 – 1924), size A4, 60 pages,
74 photos / pictures, published by District Museum Hietzing, 1130 Wien, 2012
Notes:
When making quotations or extracts, please always refer to:
„The Bieber Archives at the District Museum Wien-Hietzing“.
For further information please contact:
Klaus Bieber, Wittgensteinstrasse 116, A-1130 Wien, Austria
Tel. +43-1-8893158, Email: [email protected]
(Klaus Bieber, 15th October, 2014)