The Mongol forces that reached Europe in the 13th century brought formidable mounted warfare, but a new exhibition in Berlin looks beyond their campaigns to the cultures that made the empire possible. It follows the region’s history from earlier nomadic societies to the Mongol capital of Karakorum and the traditions that remain in Mongolia today.
The exhibition at the James-Simon-Galerie opens with the Mongol advance into Europe. An audiovisual installation depicts mounted fighters using coordinated manoeuvres and volleys of arrows, alongside weapons and armour that allow visitors to compare Mongol equipment with that of European knights.
The focus then shifts to the Orchon Valley in present-day Mongolia, a home to successive nomadic cultures. Recent archaeological discoveries feature prominently, including material from the Shoroon Bumbagar burial complex, discovered and studied in the early 2000s. The exhibition recreates part of the 6th- or 7th-century tomb at full scale, with figures and wall paintings that reflect cultural influences from China.
Objects from the valley trace the transition from early Turkic societies to the Uyghurs and Mongols. Another section explores Karakorum, which briefly flourished under Genghis Khan’s successors as an administrative centre before Kublai Khan moved his residence to China.
The exhibition also highlights cultural exchange across the Mongol Empire. Political stability helped long-distance trade, while contact between regions produced objects such as a 14th-century liturgical garment from Stralsund, made from Chinese silk and later embellished with brocade. The same movement of goods, however, also helped the plague spread.
The show concludes with a traditional Mongolian yurt made today, linking the empire’s history to nomadic practices that have endured in its central territory.
Sources: FAZ.