Seven Years In Tibet

While Seven Years in Tibet was a bestselling memoir, the work has attracted significant controversy in the decades after its first publication. These controversies have centered upon both Harrer’s Nazi past, and what some critics have regarded as an Orientalist gaze throughout the text itself.

In 1997, archival evidence revealed that Heinrich Harrer had been a member of both the Nazi Party and the SS (rank: Oberscharführer) since 1938. Harrer was personally honored by Hitler after his Eiger climb, with Harrer and Hitler photographed together. These revelations cast doubt on Harrer’s intentions in writing the memoir, with some critics suggesting that Harrer may have used the memoir to appear apolitical, benevolent, and spiritually transformed to avoid postwar accountability for his Nazi past. 

In response, Harrer only admitted to his SS membership decades later, often minimizing its significance. While he eventually expressed regret over his former Nazi membership, some have viewed his disavowal of Nazism as opportunistic and insufficient, raising questions about Harrer’s authenticity. Critics have also pointed out the problematic ways in which Harrer sought to frame aspects of his past and identity, noting how he refers to himself as “German” despite being Austrian, possibly as a way to subtly imply his Nazi affiliations.

Critics have also noted that Seven Years in Tibet contains Orientalist and/or romanticized portrayals of Tibetan society. They argue that Harrer whitewashes the reality of pre-1950 Tibet, overlooking its entrenched feudal system, which included serfdom, enslavement, and caste-based oppression. He presents an overly-idealized image of a peaceful, spiritual society where feudalism is seen as a necessary and positive part of the culture. Harrer himself had servants working in his home and admits they were paid very little, but he never criticizes or regrets this fact. 

Scholars also point out Harrer’s tendency to exoticize Tibetan culture, framing it as mystical and unchanging, while also describing the Tibetans as though they were curious animals rather than human upon first meeting them. This reduction of Tibet to an “other” diminishes its complexities, especially as Harrer’s experience in Lhasa differs greatly from life in rural Tibet. Thus, his memoir only encapsulates a portion of Tibetan culture, rather than providing a more-balanced portrait of the culture as a whole.