This conversation with Professor em. Peter Fuchs took place on May 31, 2008 at the Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology in Göttingen.
Professor Fuchs talks about his childhood and youth in Vienna, Austria, where he was born in 1928 and where he spent most of the war as well as the post-war years. After a short interlude at the armed forces towards the end of the war, Fuchs initially takes up an apprenticeship in publishing and – guided by his great love for literature – takes up the study of German Philology and Anglistics. Disappointed by his first course of study, Professor Fuchs reveals how a hiking holiday leads him to the study of Völkerkunde at the small department located at the Reitschulgasse in Vienna. He also talks about his childhood fascination with the Sahara region, which leads him to venture off on an unusual and ambitious project in post-war Europe. His goal: to visit the Amenokal of the Tuareg in Central Sahara.
