Among the highlights of my time living in Baghdad, were Dr. Helga’s regular visits.
Dr. Helga was a professor of ancient orientalism at the university of Innsbruck in Austria. She worked in different historical sites in Iraq since 1978.
From 1980 till 2003 she was one of two team leaders of the excavation team at Borsippa, a Sumerian archaeological site in the province of Babylon. Its importance leads back to the preserved ruins of the Ziggurat and temple of Nabu.
The team’s research was based on the international renowned project “Comparative studies Babylon-Borsippa”.
The group visited Iraq twice a year and stayed for about two to four weeks.
We first met Dr. Helga in 1986, when a friend told my mother that an Austrian lady was looking for a place to stay in Baghdad for a few days and my mother immediately offered to host her at our house. As soon as we got to know her, the guest room turned into an open home for Dr. Helga, whenever she was in Baghdad. The Austrian lady became a close friend and part of the family.
She loved Iraq and knew about the history and the geography of the country more than most of us Iraqis. She could talk endlessly about the beauty of the country, the ancient history, the kindness of Iraqi people. Speaking with her was enriching.
Every time she arrived in Baghdad and came to stay at our house, it felt like Christmas. She brought a lot of Austrian specialities, that we couldn’t get in Baghdad, like smoked cheese, Mozart Kugels, Haribo gold bears and Manner wafers, as well as gifts and letters from my Austrian grandmother.
She spent a few days at our place, but most of the time she was with her team in Babylon near the archaeological site. They stayed in a house sponsored by the Iraqi ministry of culture and information that was built under the supervision of Dr. Helga.
I remember the time when the house was under construction. She was very happy that it was planned according to the old regional construction methods, using bricks, clay and straw, and a special air circulation system that regulated the temperature of the building.
Sometimes dealing with the young students was a bit of a challenge. For example, she told them not to underestimate the heat of the direct sun, when working on the site. They should use sunscreen, wear a shirt with long sleeves, trousers instead of shorts and cover their heads. The temperatures in June could reach 45°C in the shadow. Unfortunately it was not seldom that one of the students thought they knew better and went to the site in an “Austrian summer outfit“ to end up with a heat stroke that kept them in bed for the rest of the trip.
She would say: “We give them a list of instructions before travelling and I tell them again when we arrive, but those who don’t listen have to feel!”
It became a tradition that we invite the whole delegation once or twice upon their stay to our place. We mostly made Austrian food for them. They appreciated it a lot, especially at the end of the trip, when the young students were feeling homesick.
I remember one of those invitations very well.
The delegation came back from a two-week stay at the excavation site and was about to travel back to Austria. Dr. Helga asked me to surprise the students with Gulasch and Spaetzle. A famous Austrian dish. I was happy to do so and didn’t think twice about it.
On the day of the invitation, I entered the kitchen to start cooking, and “click” the electricity went off. It was 12 o’clock, meaning the temperature in my kitchen, which was facing the sun, would rise form the 28°C to unbearable in no time. I started making the Gulasch (a stew of meat, onions, tomatoes and paprika) and watched the thermometer: 35, 36, 37°C. The big pot was simmering on the fire, when I filled a second pot with water for the Spaezle (tiny dumplings). To cook Spaezle I had to scrub the dough into the boiling salted water. So, I stood in front of the stove, facing the boiling water and breathing in the hot steam. My eyes on the thermometer: 42, 43, 44°C. I didn’t really need to look at the thermometer anymore, I was feeling every degree on my skin. The wide, short, and sleeveless summer dress I was wearing turned into a sticky wet piece of clothing covering my body, and the kitchen was more like a sauna than a cooking place. My only thought at that moment: “note to myself: never make Gulasch in summer. Never, ever, ever!”
Fortunately, just a few minutes before the guests arrived, the electricity came back, and I had the chance to cool down before welcoming my guests.
The group was very happy about the food and praised my cooking. I didn’t tell them about my sauna experience.
When they were leaving, Dr. Helga hugged me and said: “Thank you for the nice lunch. You are my Austrian oasis in Baghdad.”
The project in Borsippa was stopped after the US invasion in 2003. But Dr. Helga kept working voluntarily in Iraq and for the Iraqi people. She was one of the first to come from abroad and help the museum staff to clean the mess and document the stolen pieces. The damage to the museum was immense, after the US army failed to (or maybe did not care to) secure the museum. The soldiers stood still watching the damaging and looting of the place. She also kept helping the workers and their families who worked at the excavation and were jobless after the project stopped.
The last time I talked to her, she was extremely sad and was mourning Iraq. The great physical and mental damage that happened to the country and the people broke her heart. Yet she never gave up hope, that soon we will be going back to rebuild the country and celebrate peace and freedom.
Sadly, her hopes stayed unfulfilled, and just like Iraq she didn’t recover from the pain of war and loss. In March 2020 Dr. Helga left this world to rest in peace.
On her obituary notice they quoted her: “Only the waters of Euphrates and Tigris made my soul heal”.