This year the Berlin Museum für Islamische Kunst (Museum for Islamic Art) is celebrating the 150th birthday of Friedrich Sarre (1865-1945), the first director of the museum and one of the most important founding fathers of the field. Reason enough to celebrate. Sarre's expeditions to the Middle East and Central Asia played a pivotal role in the formation of the field, far beyond Germany's political borders. Berlin owes to Sarre the first dedicated “Museum of Islamic Art" outside the Islamic world. His major acquisitions such as the famous Aleppo room and the bequest of his own collection form the core of the museum holdings until today and are responsible for the museum's world wide reputation.

Why Berlin? This exhibition tells the remarkable story of an outstanding scholar within the context of a fascinating period of economic and cultural ambition in Germany. Sarre belonged to the inner circle of those who not only had political and economic relationships with the Middle East, but were also interested in collecting Oriental art. The exhibition focuses on Sarre as a museum expert and collector in the context of his time, with special emphasis on Sarre's social background and his far-reaching network. Exhibits include his historical travel photographs as well as a choice of his most important acquisitions and donations, including  his collection of Islamic paintings and calligraphy, which Sarre had kept for himself and which remained in the possession of his family until recently.