[Algerien, Tunis] - Ludwig Schneller - Bis zur Sahara - 1905

Ludwig Schneller - To the Sahara. World and church history excursions through North Africa - Leipzig, Wallmann commission publisher, 1905 - 207 pages - 24 x 17 cm

The book is a travel and cultural history description of North Africa, with an emphasis on the region's world history and church history.

Schneller combines geographical observations with historical and religious reflections.

Topics to be covered:
The role of North Africa in classical antiquity (Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines).
The rise of Christianity in North Africa (Augustine, church fathers, early communities).
The arrival of Islam and the changes it brought.
Descriptions of landscapes and peoples up to the Sahara.

The book fits into a broader tradition of German travel and missionary literature around 1900.
Schneller wanted to build a bridge between European readers and the history of Africa, with an emphasis on the religious dimension.

Up to the Sahara is not a novel, but a historical-religious travel book that describes North Africa from a Christian-historical perspective.
It provides a picture of how German theologians and travelers around 1900 viewed the region and is today mainly interesting as a source for cultural history and missiology.