To the opening of the donated photo-exhibition “ Hermann Sander’s Journey” The German Hermann Gustav Theodor Sander (1868-1945) had taken numerous photos and collected documents during his journeys in Korea, Manchuria and Sakhalin hundred years ago. His main reason to do so was his official duty to report on the Russian-Japanese War during the years 1906 and 1907. However, he also vividly captured street sceneries, the people and their traditions in those days. Having appreciated the value of this collection, his grandson Stefan Sander donated the works to the National Folk Museum of Korea in 2003. This special exhibition would like to introduce Sander’s portfolio to commemorate the Sander’s family on-going love towards Korea for the past hundred years. We would like to think that this exhibition may give Koreans and non-Koreans the opportunity to explore our own contemporary view of Korea and its culture through the experiences of Hermann Sander. Museum establishment ends in a failure Hermann Sander collected 92 different kinds of Korean relics including traditional hats, brazen ware and photo albums. Upon his return to Germany, he purchased a farmhouse in Meiningen, in central Germany, where he planned to establish a museum with this collection. However, most of his exhibits were destroyed in an air raid during World War II. By examining his diary entries, it becomes clear that Sander had a fundamental understanding of Korean culture. He divided the samples into three categories, namely living supplies, size and sketches. Moreover, he chose titles and classified them according to shape, character, size, weight and the price he had paid. This detailed categorization benefits us greatly in understanding our own past culture.