The German Afghan Connection

Why Germany? - That was the question on most people’s minds when the Afghan conference on the future of the war-torn country was reported to be held in Germany. Apart from the obvious explanation that Germany is a neutral country like Switzerland or Austria, there’s more to the German-Afghan connection than meets the eye.

No colonial past

For starters, Germany never invaded Afghanistan – the country was just too far away and the Germans too busy conquering territory in Europe.

Unburdened by a colonial past, it’s no wonder that the Afghans look upon Germany as a benevolent nation. Not just that, but Germany was a close ally of Afghanistan’s during and after the world wars, and helped form a united front against England, which wanted to spread its notorious colonial tentacles over Afghanistan.

As far back as the Berlin conference in 1978, iron chancellor Otto von Bismarck helped pour oil over troubled relations between Afghanistan and England.

The grateful Afghan leader, Amir Abdul Rahman looked to Bismarck as a role model and went about earnestly trying to unite the disparate ethnic groups. To his pride, he even earned the name, "Bismarck of Afghanistan"!

"Dä Sultan hat Doosch!" - Amanullah creates a flutter

But the most charming aspect of German Afghan ties were forged with the arrival of Sultan Amanullah in Berlin in 1920.

At that time in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, Germany was still a pariah nation and still in the black. The Pashtun Sultan didn’t seem to care. He roared around with German President Paul von Hindenburg in a convertible during a state visit to Berlin in the golden 1920s.

The exotic and dashing Sultan caused quite a stir and fired the imagination of the Germans. Inspired by the dark foreigner and his mystical land of the deserts, German song writers furiously scribbled a "Schlager", a popular German hit and a carnival song for him.

Till today at every carnival season in Germany carnival revelers sing at the top of their voices, " Die Karawane zieht weiter...Dä Sultan hat Doosch". Loosely translated it means "the caravan rolls ahead, the Sultan is thirsty".

Sultan Amanullah also suitably impressed the BVG (Berlin public transport). They promptly named a subway train that he rode on after him!

A modernizer

His obvious charm apart, Sultan Amanullah was a progressive leader. He wanted to reform and modernize his desert country. What he saw in Germany made quite an impact on him.

He invited German specialists and experts to work in Afghanistan. Several German experts worked on development projects not just in the capital of Kabul, but also in Kandahar and other towns, names that we’re now familiar with.

Of weapons and the like

The focus on development of infrastructure shifted to the military by 1935 as ominous signs of another world war loomed. Kabul began to rely primarily on Germany for its economic and military modernization.

Germany supplied the country with weapons and slipped into the role of both ally and protector. Afghanistan saw Germany as a useful and safe counterweight to its Soviet and British neighbors.

Some other exchanges other than war-related ones also took place between the two countries. In 1936, Germany hosted the Afghan hockey team and officials as special guests at the controversial Berlin Olympics. They were given a red-carpet treatment like other foreign teams as the Nazis strove to make the summer Olympics a showcase for the "New Germany".

Ironically several Afghan soldiers came to Germany to get trained by German officers. The aim was to train and equip Afghan armed forces to Western standards. In 1938 weekly air service, the first of its kind, was established between Kabul and Berlin

The Nazi Organization Todt provided plans and supervision for major infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, airfields, and industrial plants in Afghanistan.

Development and hunger for pepper steak

After the war and once Germany had shaken off its jingoistic image, bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in the 1970s and 1980s focused on development and scientific exchange.

Several development and humanitarian German organisations were active in Afghanistan. An example was the province of Paktia in the south of Kabul that was developed by means of a masterplan.

In 1976, the nostalgic expatriate German community in Kabul set up a German club, and gradually "mini Germany" took form. Their taste cloyed with nan and kebab, some Germans taught Afghan cooks to make well-done pepper steak and sauerkraut. A couple of German schools and a bakery also sprung up.

The Goethe Institut, the German language and cultural institute set up in Kabul, went a long way in bringing Germany closer to the residents of the city.

Until the US-led war in Afghanistan, several German non-governmental organizations have been supporting small development projects in Afghanistan.

Multi-kulti - Afghans in Germany

Today about 80,000 exiled Afghans belong to the "multi-kulti" or multicultural face of Germany. They’ve founded about a dozen organizations and clubs that deal among other things with women empowerment to cooperation with German doctors in the medical field. There’s even a German-Afghan website that keeps up to date with the unfolding events in Afghanistan.