Robert Elsie
Robert Elsie
Ernst Jäckh (1875-1959) was a German journalist, publisher and scholar, born in Urach in southwestern Germany. His time in Turkey in 1908-1909, during and after the Young Turk revolution, made a deep impression on him and he became a strong promoter of the new Turkey and of German-Turkish relations. In the summer of 1910, he was in Kosovo and Albania at the invitation of the Turkish General Staff to support Turkish troops in their struggle to put down the Albanian uprising. He had occasion to accompany the troops on a military expedition from Skopje to Ferizaj, Fushë Kosova (Kosovo Polje), Prizren, down the Drin River to Shkodra. From there he accompanied General Shefket Turgut Pasha through Mirdita and Gostivar back to Skopje. He was also with Turkish armed forces during the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912). In 1912, Jäckh founded the German-Turkish Association and in 1914 he was appointed to teach Turkish history at the University of Berlin. After the First World War, he supported liberal parliamentary democracy in Germany and promoted Germany’s accession to the League of Nations. He was also co-founder of the Deutsche Hochschule für Politik. In 1933, with the rise of the Nazis, Jäckh emigrated to London where he was appointed international director of the New Commonwealth Institute. In 1940 he was appointed Professor of Public Law and Government at Columbia University in New York where he died. His archives including his photos of Albania are preserved at the manuscript division of the library of Columbia University. Among his publications is the book Im türkischen Kriegslager durch Albanien: Bekenntnisse zur deutsch-türkischen Freundschaft (Through Albania with the Turkish Military: In Support of German-Turkish Friendship), Heilbronn 1911, from which this photo collection is taken. Additional photos were graciously provided by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Columbia University in New York.








![Jäckh043: "An Albanian kulla [fortified stone tower] surrounded by Turkish cavalry" (Photo: Ernst Jäckh, ca. 1910).](https://i2.wp.com/www.albanianphotography.net/jaeckh/Jaeckh_files/vlb_thumbnails1/jaeckh043.jpg)

![Jäckh054: "The Albanians hasten to pay homage to Sultan Mehmed V in the summer of 1911 on Plain of Kosovo [Kosovo Polje /Fushë Kosova]" (Photo: Ernst Jäckh, 1911).](https://i1.wp.com/www.albanianphotography.net/jaeckh/Jaeckh_files/vlb_thumbnails1/jaeckh054.jpg)


![Jäckh066: "The men who accompanied me from Prizren through the valley of the Drin. On the left and right are soldiers. The kiradji [horse driver] is in front holding my horse. Behind the tree is Nicola and beside him the son of the Turkish hadji as well as two Albanians in wooden saddles who joined us on the road" (Photo: Ernst Jäckh, ca. 1910).](https://i0.wp.com/www.albanianphotography.net/jaeckh/Jaeckh_files/vlb_thumbnails1/jaeckh066.jpg)

![Jäckh069: "Albanian from the mountains of Koman, with a perçe [scalp lock]" (Photo: Paul Traeger, ca. 1910).](https://i2.wp.com/www.albanianphotography.net/jaeckh/Jaeckh_files/vlb_thumbnails1/jaeckh069.jpg)













![Jäckh131: "General Shefket Torgut Pasha, led by Bishop Docci [Doçi], on his way to Mirdita" (Photo: Ernst Jäckh, ca. 1910. Courtesy of Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York, 130114-0033).](https://i0.wp.com/www.albanianphotography.net/jaeckh/Jaeckh_files/vlb_thumbnails1/jaeckh131.jpg)





![Jäckh152: “The Abbey of Bishop Docci [Doçi] in the mountains of Orosh” in Mirdita (Photo: Ernst Jäckh, ca. 1910).](https://i1.wp.com/www.albanianphotography.net/jaeckh/Jaeckh_files/vlb_thumbnails1/jaeckh152.jpg)

![Jäckh157: “Mountain manor of Bishop Docci [Doçi], 1300 m. in elevation” (Photo: Ernst Jäckh, ca. 1910).](https://i1.wp.com/www.albanianphotography.net/jaeckh/Jaeckh_files/vlb_thumbnails1/jaeckh157.jpg)
![Jäckh167: “A kulla [fortified stone tower] blown up and destroyed” (Photo: Ernst Jäckh, ca. 1910).](https://i1.wp.com/www.albanianphotography.net/jaeckh/Jaeckh_files/vlb_thumbnails1/jaeckh167.jpg)













