Already in the early seventies of the 19th century Bode had discovered the oriental carpet and begun to collect carpets whose identity with those carpets seen in paintings, had come to my attention. In his letter of Sept. 29, 1904 he offers to donate his carpets collected in over thirty years to the General Director of the Berlin Museums, under the condition, that they remain in the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum until the opening of the Museum of Asian Art. There are about twenty of them, in their own way mostly in excellent condition.

We take the presentation of Werner Brüggemann's opus magnum "Der Orientteppich - Einblicke in Geschichte und Ästhetik" and that of the Festschrift for Jens Kröger as an opportunity to invite you to Berlin for the Volkmann Treffen 2007. We would like to honour The Berlin School of Carpet Studies and Wilhelm von Bode with a series of lectures. At the occasion of this Volkmann Treffen there will be a special exhibit displaying, with the exception of two pieces now travelling, all Holbein carpets in the collections of the museum, most of them purchased by Wilhelm von Bode, among them little known or even unknown pieces.