ABSTRACT
Attraction to foreign countries can take on bizarre forms; the fi les of the German Consulate General in Beirut of the 1930s provide numerous examples. In February 1935, the consulate received a letter from a German student asking for advice:
In June of this year, I am intending – accompanied by my brother (two students) – to start a bicycle ride from Berlin to Constantinople, Trebizond, Tabriz, Mosul, Baghdad, Damascus, and from there to Palestine. We did similar trips in the past, so we are no newcomers to life on the road.
