Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 March 2016
In Recent Years and on several occasions Eugen Wirth (1977; 1983a; 1983b), probably the leading German geographer on the Near and Middle East, has given critical evaluations and assessments of German geography related to the Near and Middle East. One of his findings, published in a volume by the German Research Council (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), on the state of art of research in the Federal Republic of Germany reads as follows: “Thus one may possibly say that the geographical Middle East research of the Federal Republic of Germany in terms of number and breadth, as well as in terms of contents and depth of its publications, may be considered internationally leading” (Wirth 1983a; translated by E. E.).
The text of this article is based on a paper given at the eighteenth Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in San Francisco, 28 November–1 December 1984.