An exhibition, ‘'Ladakh 1907-1913: Letters and Photographs by Amalie and Sebastian Schmitt’ opened in Leh on September 12 until the end of November at LAMO, Kharyog, Old Town.

The exhibition is in collaboration with the Ladakh Arts and Media Organization (LAMO) and is jointly curated by Anne Hartig, Ph.D. /J.N. Univ. New Delhi (curator at the Museum Five Continents in Munich, Germany), Dr. Monisha Ahmed (Executive Director, LAMO), and Dr. Michaela Appel (former curator at the Museum Five Continents). It presents excerpts from letters written by the Schmitt's, Moravian Missionaries based in Leh, as well as a selection of 74 black-and-white photographs by them.

 Sent out to Ladakh by the Herrnhut Brethren Church, Sebastian, and Amalie Schmitt lived with their family in the Herrnhut Mission Station in Leh from 1907 to 1913.  During this period, they recorded their impressions of life in the Himalayas through photographs and letters. 

In addition to landscapes and everyday scenes, the collection of approximately 450 photographs depicts a wide variety of the population, most of which are distinguished from one another in particular by their style of dress and the activities they are involved in. 

Among those depicted are high officials, dignitaries, and religious figures, as well as ascetics, musicians, craftsmen, farmers, and merchants with their families. As a missionary doctor, Sebastian Schmitt came into contact with many people, including the Rinpoche of Hemis Monastery and members of the royal family. The extensive biographical notes bear witness to the close connection to the persons portrayed in the photographs.

While the letters of Amalie Schmitt to a friend at home in Germany were rediscovered as early as 2006, the photographic volume, thought to have been lost, turned up in 2016 in the possession of a granddaughter of the Schmitt couple, Gisela Muller. An earlier German edition of the letters was republished in 2022 in English together with the original photographs.

In many ways, the exhibition project also ties in with a former collaboration between the Museum Five Continents and LAMO, an exhibition held in Leh in 2008 called Kashmir-Ladakh- Baltistan 1911/12.Photographs by Honigmann. Incidentally, Otto Hopiemann was in the region at the same time and also met the Schmitt's. Around 200 of his photographs have already been given to the Museum Five Continents. 

These letters and pictures not only provide a comprehensive insight into a historical period in Ladakh, but they also fill a gap, as photographs of the region from the early 20th century have rarely survived, especially as such a large group of images. 

Through LAMO's archive, the Schmitt and Honigmann photo collections will be made available in digital form to the Iocal public and thus also to the descendants of those depicted.