Walter Friedrich Knips films
name: label: Creator
content: Knips, Walter Friedrich, 1911-1994
label: Names
content: K̲h̲ān, Muhammad Jamāl, Mir of Hunza, 1912-1976
place: label: Place
content: Pakistan
label: Place
content: Hunza (Pakistan)
label: Place
content: Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir, India)
label: Place
content: Nanga Parbat (Pakistan)
label: Place
content: Gilgit District (Pakistan)
topic: label: Topic
content: Polo
label: Topic
content: Festivals
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The Walter Friedrich Knips films were donated by his daughter, Franziska Hart.
creator: label: Creator
content: Knips, Walter Friedrich, 1911-1994
setName: label: See more items in
content: Walter Friedrich Knips films
abstract: label: Summary
content: Walter Friedrich Knips was a commercial attaché for the German foreign service. He served in Karachi, Pakistan, from 1952 to 1957. The film footage included in this collection covers trips taken by Knips and his family to Hunza, Srinagar, Gilgit, and Nanga Parabat between 1953 and 1955 and family home movies from Pakistan and Houston dating from 1952 to 1960.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Walter Friedrich Knips was born in Berlin on March 5, 1911. He was unable to attend university and took a business/electro-technical apprenticeship at Siemens in 1931. At the end of his apprenticeship, he was hired by Siemens and worked for them for two years before being transferred to their British India location in 1936. When England declared war on Germany after the invasion of Poland in 1939, all German nationals living in India, including Knips, were taken into internment camps. Knips was interned at Ahmendnagar (1929-1941), Deolali (1941-1942), and Dehra Dun (1941-1942). In the internment camps, Knips volunteered to help the dentist and was employed to assist in the camp hospital. When the internees were released two years after the end of the war, few were permitted to remain in India, and Knips returned to Germany, where he met his wife, Eva Burhenne. He worked as a salesman for Zellstoff Fabrik Waldhof, a Wiesbaden based pulp and paper company, for two years. Then, in 1952, his daughter Franziska was born, and he was hired by the German foreign service to take a position at the new embassy in Karachi, Pakistan, due to his knowledge of and desire to return to the region.

Knips was a commercial attaché for the German foreign service from 1952 to 1976. He served in Karachi from 1952 to 1957; he was fluent in Urdu and served as a negotiator and translator. He met Mir Muhammad Jamal Khan (1912-1976), the last Ismaili ruler of the State of Hunza, in 1953 while serving as a facilitator for the German-Austrian Nanga Parbat Climbing Expedition. The Mir invited Knips to visit him in the Hunza Valley, which he did with his wife in 1954 and his wife and daughter, Franziska, in 1955. Their friendship continued after Knips' departure from Pakistan in February 1957.

Knips continued to work for the German foreign service until his retirement in 1976, while serving in Montreal. He was posted in Houston, Texas, from 1957 to 1961 and in Montreal, Canada, from 1961 to 1976. He remained in Canada until his death in 1994.

Sources Consulted

Hamid, Major General Syed Ali. "A German Captive in Wartime India." The Friday Times, September 20, 2019. https://www.thefridaytimes.com/a-german-captive-in-wartime-india/

Hart, Franziska. "Walter F. Knips 1911-1994." Accessed November 19, 2020. http://www.gaebler.info/Walter_Knips.pdf

1911 -- Born in Berlin on March 5

1931-1934 -- Business/Electro-Technical apprentice at Siemens

1934-1936 -- Worked at Siemens

1936-1939 -- Worked at British India office of Siemens

1939 -1941 -- Interned by British forces at Ahmednagar

1941-1942 -- Interned by British forces at Deolali

1942-1947 -- Interned by British forces at Dehra Dun

1948 -- Married Eva Burhenne on October 30

1948-1952 -- Worked for Zellstoff Fabrik Waldhof

1952-1957 -- Commercial attaché for the German foreign service in Karachi, Pakistan

1953 -- Served as a facilitator for the German-Austrian Nanga Parbat Climbing Expedition

1954 -- First trip to Hunza (with Eva)

1955 -- Second trip to Hunza (with Eva and Franziska)

1957-1961 -- Commercial attaché for the German foreign service in Houston, Texas

1961-1976 -- Commercial attaché for the German foreign service in Montreal, Quebec

1994 -- Died in Quebec, Canada
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Film reels (1,550 feet, 16mm and 8mm)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1950s
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: HSFA.2015.07
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The first film was assembled from three reels of film and the second and third film were each assembled from two reels of film. Titles for the assembled film reels were supplied by the archivist. Titles for the individual film reels were derived from information on the film cans when the film was digitized.

Descriptions of the film footage were supplied by Franziska Hart.

Processed by HSFA Staff, November 2014

Encoded by Katherine Christensen, November 2020
bibliography: label: Further Reading
content: Bilal, Shah. "The History of Hunza." YouTube, 10:31, accessed October 20, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=xRZweSmnAhE&list=PLlKlUP7yiEBKwlU_36s10C3oa79Tx3Dt2&index=3

Clark, John.  -- Hunza, Lost Kingdom of the Himalayas -- . New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1956.

Douglas, William O.  -- Beyond the High Himalayas -- . Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1952.

Leaf, Alexander, M.D. "Every Day is a Gift When You are Over 100."  -- National Geographic Magazine -- , January 1973.

Manchester Education Committee. "Hunza-A Remote Himalayan Community." YouTube, 16:09, accessed October 20, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=DHFIiio9KhI&index=1&list=PLlKlUP7yiEBKwlU_36s10C3oa79Tx3Dt2

McCarry, John. "High Road to Hunza."  -- National Geographic Magazine -- , March 1994.

Michaud, Sabrina & Roland. "Trek to Lofty Hunza - and Beyond."  -- National Geographic Magazine -- , November 1975.

Rodale, J. L.  -- The Healthy Hunzas -- . Emmaus, Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1949.

Shor, Jean & Franc. "At World's End in Hunza."  -- National Geographic Magazine -- , October 1953.

Shor, Jean Bowie.  -- After You, Marco Polo -- . New York, Toronto, London: McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc., 1955.

Taylor, Reneé.  -- Hunza Health Secrets for Long Life and Happiness -- . New Canaan, Connecticut: Keats Publishing Inc., 1964.

Tobe, John H.  -- Hunza, Adventures in a Land of Paradise -- . St. Catharines, Ontario: The Provoker Press, 1960.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Walter Friedrich Knips films contain footage of the Knips family trips to Hunza in April of 1954 and autumn of 1955, a trip to Gilgit and Nanga Parabat in 1953 for the German-Austrian Climbing Expedition, and footage of the family in Karachi and Houston. The Hunza film footage contains depictions of their journey there, the events and people they witnessed while there, and their return home. The family film footage depicts the Knips children at various ages as well as unidentified local events. Some of the family film may date to after their time in Pakistan, perhaps to their time in Houston.

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The HSFA holds excerpts from the journals of Walter Friedrich Knips and his wife, Eva Knips, as translated by their daughter Franziska Hart, which relate to the family trip to Hunza in 1955. Please consult the archivist for more information.