ABSTRACT
Iran-Germany relations can draw on a rich premodern heritage. The first encounter between Iranians and Germans took place some 2,000 years ago. At that time, German soldiers who formed part of the Roman army fought against the Parthian warriors who were the defenders of the original Pahlavi state, and on their return to Germany they related their reminiscences. However, until 1427, the German people had little accurate information about Iran. In that year a German traveler, Hans Johann Schiltberg, visited Iran and later published his notes in German. In 1523, the founder of Iran’s Safavid dynasty, Shah Ismail I, sent a Hungarian priest who was resident in his court in Tabriz as his representative to the German territories. The aim of the mission was to meet the then ruler of the region, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, to persuade the Holy Roman Empire to sign a treaty of alliance with Iran against the Ottoman Empire. It was two years before the envoy succeeded in meeting the Emperor and conveying the Shah’s message. Emperor Maximilian then sent a delegation to Tabriz with his reply to the Iranian ruler. However, the delegation arrived after Shah Ismail’s death, and his successor, Shah Tahmasb Safavi, showed no interest in responding to the Emperor’s proposals.
