The book sheds light on the life and surroundings of the first director of the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art, Friedrich Sarre (1865-1945). He brought the museum to international fame through extensive acquisitions and the donation of his own collection. His excavation in Samarra (Iraq) was one of the first archaeological investigations of an Islamic ruin. In Sarre's villa in Neubabelsberg, academic, political, and economic elites gathered. They purchased Islamic art objects, such as a dome from the Alhambra, to incorporate into their homes. Orientalizing rooms, like a replica of the Aleppo Room from the Berlin Museum, were also in vogue. Thus, the authors not only portray the 'founding father' of Islamic art history but also depict the atmosphere of those years in Berlin.