During the First World War, Spain was neutral. On a study trip to Spain, when the war broke out, Kurt Hielscher got stuck. He stayed in Spain during the whole war and decided to make the best of it by traveling around and making a lot of photos that eventually turned into his book with a selection of 304 photos in it published in 1922. This book and his lectures and exhibitions made him famous, and he received invitations from other European countries to make a similar book. During the Second World War, his negatives were destroyed due to Leipzig's bombings by the allied forces. After the war, his work fell into oblivion.