Central Europe Yearbook

The Travels of Adam Olearius

A Gateway to Globalization in the Seventeenth Century

Emmey Harris

University of Minnesota

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Abstract

The seventeenth century opened up the world to Western Europe like never before. Bold commercial ventures and proselytizing missions pushed to the far reaches of the globe. New technologies brought massive improvements to travel and communication. As a result, greater numbers of ordinary Europeans could hear riveting accounts of encounters with the exotic in far-off locations. European responses to their increased interactions with foreign cultures were varied. As early modern Europeans became more aware of the world's diversity, they continued to believe in the the superiority of Christendom and Western society. However, they also felt a need to reconcile this belief with their desire to interpret the many ancient cultures, religions, and customs they continued to discover.

A figure who perfectly encapsulates the tensions of the early modern intellectual world is northern German scholar Adam Olearius (1599–1671). Between 1633 and 1639, Olearius traveled to the capitals of Russia and Persia as part of a diplomatic mission. In his extremely popular 1647 travel account, Offt begehrte Beschreibung der newen orientalischen Reise (Oft-desired Description of the New Oriental Travels), Olearius chronicled the journey, documented the geography of the lands he traversed, and gave detailed ethnographic accounts of the peoples he encountered. Writing to both learned and unlearned audiences, Olearius enabled European readers to vicariously experience the sights and sounds of exotic locales. The illustrations derived from Olearius's eyewitness drawings, his firsthand narration of events, and his erudite analysis made readers feel they could rely on his version of Russian and Persian society.

Olearius's travel account is an incredibly rich source. Its interplay of text and images reveals a great deal about early modern European attitudes towards foreign peoples, places, and systems of thought. This StoryMaps project will map the journey of the Holstein delegation and analyze the images and text found in Olearius's travel narrative. Olearius provides an invaluable window into a time period when Europeans were forced to reckon with the vastness of the world and reevaluate their status as just one culture among many.