page_title: 1938–39 German expedition to Tibet
section_title: Trip To Lhasa
hierarchical_section_title: 1938–39 German expedition to Tibet / Expedition details / Trip To Lhasa
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Lhasa, Regent und Beger
context_page_description: The 1938-1939 German Expedition to Tibet was a German scientific expedition from April 1938 to August 1939, led by German zoologist and SS officer Ernst Schäfer.
context_section_description: During the trip to Tibet's highlands, Beger began making facial casts of local people, including his personal servant, a Nepalese Sherpa named Passang. During the first casting, paste got into one of Passang's nostrils and he panicked, tearing at the mask. Schäfer threatened to terminate the employment of the porters who had seen the incident, if they told anyone. Most of the Tibetans had a much more friendly and light-hearted attitude, however, and photographic and film footage remains of smiling and laughing Tibetans undergoing facial and skull feature measurements.
  On January 19, 1939, the team reached Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Schäfer proceeded to pay his respects to the Tibetan ministers and a nobleman. He also gave out Nazi pennants, explaining the reverence shown for the shared symbol in Germany. His permission to remain in Lhasa was extended, and he was permitted to photograph and film the region. The team spent two months in Lhasa, collecting information on agriculture, culture, and religion.
  As the arrival of the expedition had been announced in advance, its members, according to Bruno Beger's testimony,  were welcome everywhere in Tibet and provided with all the things they needed for their trip and sojourn. In Lhasa itself, they got into close touch with government officials and other noteworthy people.
  Schäfer met the Regent of Tibet, Reting Rinpoche, on several occasions. During one of their meetings, the Regent asked him point blank whether his country would be willing to sell weapons to Tibet.
caption: Beger with the Regent of Tibet, in Lhasa.
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