The first photographic exhibition by the Orient Express Endowment Fund distinguishes fact from fiction as it examines the evidence of this near-mythical service, which in the 19th century opened up routes between Europe and the Middle East and in the 20th became the setting for Agatha Christie’s mystery novel and, later, Sidney Lumet’s film adaptation.
In 1867, Georges Nagelmackers, the ambitious son of a Belgian banker, had the idea of creating a transcontinental-travel company in Europe. In America he had experienced the Pullman sleeping cars, which offered comfort—and style—to passengers crossing the country by train. Establishing the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL), Nagelmackers negotiated with rail companies and nation-states to enable seamless travel on a single train between Paris and Constantinople (now Istanbul).
