Ein Kaufmann wider Willen. This item is unavailable.Ein Kaufmann wider Willen

2024 it has been exactly 200 years since the young Bernhard Rieter (1805-1883) from Winterthur left his home for the first time and got to know foreign cultures. First, he traveled Egypt, where he stayed for five years. A little later, a stay in Constantinople (Istanbul) followed. In 1843, Rieter embarked on the biggest journey that took him to India, Indonesia, Burma (Myanmar), Singapore, the Philippines and to the south coast of China. Of all these travels, he sent detailed letters to his family in Switzerland. These very vividly written documents testify to an open-minded personality with diverse interests and a pronounced powers of observation. Rieter signed nature, culture and population of the countries traveled. His letters reveal a critical attitude towards the colonial powers and are valuable testimonies from the time when the trade of Swiss firms began to establish with the Ottoman Empire and with Asia.