A Century of Shared Heritage: Exploring the Deep Cultural and Historical Ties Between the UAE and Germany

A museum in Berlin currently houses one of the earliest known photographs of a leader from the Emirates. Taken in February 1904 by German traveller and photographer Hermann Burchardt, the image depicts Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, recognized as Zayed the Great, seated at a majlis outside Qasr Al Hosn and surrounded by members of his court. While American missionary Samuel Zwemer had photographed Qasr Al Hosn three years prior, Burchardt's photograph is considered the first known picture of a ruler of Abu Dhabi. The original glass-plate negatives from this visit are preserved in Berlin's Ethnological Museum, with digital copies accessible through the UAE's Arabian Gulf Digital Archive.

President Sheikh Mohamed's visit to Germany on Wednesday—where he is scheduled to meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Friedrich Merz—takes place more than 120 years after that historic photograph and 54 years following the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations. Since 1972, this relationship has broadened through strategic agreements encompassing the trade and industrial sectors. Alongside these developments, cultural ties have flourished, highlighted by enduring collaborations in publishing, language education, and archaeological research.

A prime example of this ongoing partnership is the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, which is set to return for its 35th season from September 13 to 18. Germany has played a central role in the fair's evolution over the past two decades. Originally launched in 1981 as the Islamic Book Fair, the Abu Dhabi event later partnered with its Frankfurt counterpart—whose history spans back to the 15th century—through a 2006 agreement that saw both organizations jointly run the event from 2007 to 2013. This collaboration significantly expanded the fair's rights trading network, professional meetings, and access to regional and international publishers. Germany has maintained an annual presence at the fair since 2008 and was honored as Guest of Honour in 2021 and 2022, while UAE publishers and authors regularly participate in the Frankfurt International Book Fair.

Juergen Boos, president and chief executive of the Frankfurt Book Fair, likened the connection between the two events to that of “good friends.” Speaking when the Guest of Honour agreement was signed in Frankfurt, he noted that they share a history of developing the book business in Abu Dhabi and the Middle East, noting both cultural presentations and economic focuses such as book rights sales.

At a recent fair, the 20th Sheikh Zayed Book Award named German writer, critic, and translator Stefan Weidner as the 2026 winner in the Arab Culture in Other Languages category, recognizing his German translations of works by Adonis, Mahmoud Darwish, and Ibn Arabi. The cultural exchange flows in both directions as well; the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre maintains a regular presence in Frankfurt and utilized the 2025 fair to launch 'From Kalima to the World,' an initiative aimed at translating classical and contemporary Emirati and Arab writing into multiple languages, building upon earlier efforts like a 2009 project that translated works by six Emirati women writers into German.

Music has served as another vital bridge between the two countries, largely facilitated by major festivals in Abu Dhabi. In 2008, the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra traveled to Emirates Palace for only its second performance outside Europe in its then-132-year history, performing a Wagner gala during the opening weekend of Abu Dhabi Classics. Katharina Wagner, the great-granddaughter of the composer, also led a workshop for 40 participants during the visit. A decade later, Bayreuth returned to stage Wagner's 'The Valkyrie' at Emirates Palace under her direction, marking the festival's inaugural opera production outside Germany.

Conversely, Emirati institutions have actively brought local artistry to German audiences. The Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation—the organization behind the Abu Dhabi Festival—presented works by over 50 Emirati artists in the 'Portrait of a Nation' exhibition during Berlin Art Week in 2017. Two years later, the Abu Dhabi Festival co-produced Puccini's 'La Boheme' at Komische Oper Berlin, showcasing a UAE-backed production to German theatergoers.

Institutional architecture in Abu Dhabi also reflects this enduring partnership. The Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation was designed by the architectural firm founded by Walter Gropius, the creator of Germany's Bauhaus movement. In 2024, the building became one of the initial structures to receive a Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi plaque, designating it as a registered modern heritage site due to its 1970s design by The Architects Collaborative, an American practice co-founded by Gropius. Additionally, the exhibition 'From Cinderella to Sindbad' traveled from Berlin's Museum Island to the Cultural Foundation in 2021, displaying roughly 100 objects that juxtaposed the Brothers Grimm and Goethe with Arab literary and oral traditions.

Germany's permanent cultural footprint in the UAE was solidified in 2006 when Steinmeier, then serving as Germany's foreign minister, inaugurated a joint Abu Dhabi liaison office for the Goethe-Institut, the German Academic Exchange Service, and the German development agency GTZ. The Goethe-Institut subsequently established a branch in the UAE and continues to offer language courses and cultural programs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In the cinematic realm, collaborations continue through initiatives like the Gulf German Film Festival—established by the Goethe-Institut, the German Embassy, and Cinema Akil—alongside UAE editions of the children's film festival Schlingel in 2024 and 2025.

Furthermore, decades of archaeological cooperation in Sharjah have further tightened these bonds. At the Faya Palaeolandscape, which was inscribed on the Unesco World Heritage List in 2025, Emirati and German teams have collaborated across multiple excavation seasons. The University of Tübingen in southwest Germany began collaborating with the Sharjah Archaeology Authority in 1995, and these ongoing excavations continue to yield vital evidence regarding early human habitation and migration patterns across Arabia.