Orthodox priests and deacons in the country, Ethiopia, 1929

Group portrait in a hilly landscape, view from out of a tent. In the foreground a desk with writing material, behind 2 Ethiopians with headdresses leaning on a stick and 6 Ethiopian boys and young men. One of them is wearing a colored, adorned gown and holding a partly veiled metal cross on a stick. Two others are holding parasols over the group. The picture was taken on Hermann Bahlburg's second return journey from Aira to Adis Abeba. -- Hermann Bahlburg (1892-1962) was the leader of the Galla [Oromo] mission of the Hermannsburg mission in Ethiopia from 1927 until his internment in 1941. He was based mostly in Adis Abeba, where he promoted the founding of a German school and church. He was part of the first caravan to Aira and undertook several journeys to the newly established mission stations in Aira and Bedele. From 1941 to 1948 he was interned by the British occupying forces. Afterwards he returned to Germany, where he continued his work as missionary until he was banned by the leadership of the Hermannsburger Missionsanstalt. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 2007.