Germany also took part in the competition to rule the world. By the First World War, German colonists conquered some distant regions as German colonies - with terrible consequences. What has that got to do with us today? Find it out now!
The Germans wanted their own colonies, too. Here you see a station building in Deutsch-SĂŒdwestafrika in 1906.
1
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
Auch Deutschland machte mit beim Wettbewerb um die Aufteilung der Welt. Bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg eroberten deutsche Kolonialisten einige weit entfernte Regionen als deutsche Kolonien â mit fĂŒrchterlichen Folgen.
Was hat das heute noch mit uns zu tun? Finde es jetzt heraus!
1. The German colony âDeutsch SĂŒdwestafrikaâ and what is left today
2
The Germans wanted to build an empire, too. Here you can see the German colonies in Africa (1913): Togo, Kamerun, Deutsch-Ostafrika (today: Tanzania), Deutsch-SĂŒdwestafrika (today: Namibia).
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
§
Urheber: Fotograf im einzelnen unbekannt: Dr. Robert Lohmeyer (geb. 1879), Bruno Marquardt (1878-1916) und Eduard Kiewning (?)
Wikipedia
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
§
Urheber: O. Ziegler
Wikimedia Commons
German settlers moved to Deutsch-SĂŒdwestafrika. They took away land from the African people so they could not live there anymore. After some time, the Africans started to fight against the Germans.
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
§
Urheber: Unbekannt
Wikimedia Commons
The German soldiers were stronger: They brutally killed ten thousands of people, especially Herero and Nama. Even when the Germans had won over the Herero, they killed all of them: children, women, men. After that, almost no Herero or Nama were left.
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
§
Urheber: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-R05765 / CC-BY-SA 3.0
Wikimedia Commons
Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck was one of the soldiers. He thought killing all Herero and Nama was right. Later he wrote books about his life in Africa and the Nazis celebrated him as a hero.
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
§
Urheber: Unbekannt
OpenStreetMap
Until today there are streets named after Lettow-Vorbeck in Germany, for example in Kaiserslautern.
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
2. What should we do?
3
There are many discussions in Germany about the traces of colonialism. What should we do about them?
Pick one of the following boxes to find more traces of colonialism.
Prepare a statement about the question you find there.
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
4
+ Stolen cultural objects
+ Stolen cultural objects
Around 80% of ancient African art and culture objects are not in Africa anymore. They were brought to Europe, some stolen, some bought.Â
Should Germany give these objects back to the African countries?
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
Should African objects be given back now?
Watch the video. There you will see a man from Kongo who steals African art objects from European museums.Â
Do you think he is right?
What is your opinion?
Write down your opinion. Give a reason.Â
You can write like this:Â
I think he is right/he is not right because the objects do not belong to European museums/it is so long ago/the objects were also stolen a long time ago/the objects must stay in safe European museums/...Â
5
++ Colonial street names in Germany
++ Colonial street names in Germany
At the beginning of this chapter you found out more about Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.Â
There are many streets in Germany named after him. Many cities have decided to find other names for those streets. Do you think that is right?
Here you can read about the debate in one German city that still has a âLettow-Vorbeck-StraĂeâ.Â
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
Prepare a statement
What do you think? Write down your opinion. Also give a reason (e.g:Â It will not change how people think about racism./Lettow-Vorbeck was a murderer./This is our history./This man should not be honored.)
You can write like this:
I think the street name must be changed/should not be changed because ...
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
6
+++ The German government on the genocide of the Herero and Nama
+++ The German government on the genocide of the Herero and Nama
§
Urheber: Chrischerf
Wikimedia Commons
This can be found in Bremen.
There is still a very emotional discussion on different questions:Â
- Will the German government call the murder of ten thousands Herero and Nama a 'genocide'? That would mean the German officials accept that Germany did something very criminal and must pay for that crime.
- How much would the compensation for this crime be?
- Is it already too long ago to pay compensation?
- What would be an appropriate apology by the German government?
- Should the Germans give back all the bones and skulls of killed Africans they brought to Germany?Â
Find out more about these questions in this article from Deutsche Welle and this Wikipedia article.Â
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH
Prepare a statement
What do you think? Answer three of the questions above. Also give a reason.Â
You can write it like this:Â
1. I think the Germans must pay compensation/do not have to pay because ...
2. Giving back all the bones and skulls would be enough/not enough because ...
3. Calling it a genocide will be/won't be necessary because ...
§
Urheber: Digitale Lernwelten GmbH