Eva und Hans-H. Alpers Photography

North Albania - Daily Life / 2006 - 2008

The mountainous highlands in the north are a rough area. Hot summers, cold winters. For almost 50 years, Albanians have endured party dictatorship, spying and contempt of humanity. This has shaped generations of Albanians. Enver Hoxha had closed his country off from the outside world. Even today, around 600,000 one-man bunkers still remind us of the dictator. Albania has changed a lot since the fall of communism in 1989/1990. Modern Albania has long had a democratic constitution and, since 1995, a penal code that criminalizes murder. Nevertheless, parts of the Society follow the Kanun, the oral law that demands blood feud. Men have been locked up in their houses for years because their families are feuding. Most of the inhabitants of the bitterly poor north emigrated after the travel ban was lifted in 1991. The mountain dwellers who stayed behind have to cope with their daily lives as self-sufficient people under difficult living conditions. Medical care is inadequate. Health care is basically free for Albanians. But anyone who wants treatment still has to pay the medical staff. The living conditions of the Roma are poor, unemployment is high because they are discriminated against in the labour market.