Black Germans

Black Magus

One of the Three Wise Men who visited baby Jesus and brought gifts to him. The old world was believed to be split into three parts: Europe, Asia, and Africa. Each king represented a different continent. Other important context is the prevalence of “sacred blackness” in German art, such as depictions of the Black Madonnas and Prester John. The Black Magus is depicted as young and extremely wealthy in the paintings, with lavish clothes, but is always positioned at the periphery.

Rudolph August Mohr

German chamber moor who was traded three times, eventually ending up in the court of the German Duke of Wolfenbuttel. He was educated and baptized, and had very intimate access to the royals which he would use to social climb and gain influence. Connected to the concept of “privileged dependency.”

Anton Wilhelm Amo

German chamber moor for Anton Ulrich. He was highly educated and ended up becoming Europe’s first person of African dissent to earn a PhD. He wrote dissertations in philosophy and law. A majority of his writings were lost, but we know he advocated for the freedom and equality of moors.

Angelo Soliman

Chamber moor who was brought to Europe at 8, eventually ending up being gifted to an Austrian Prince. He would participate in many Viennese Enlightenment circles, ending up in good favor of Emperor Joseph II. When he died, his body was skinned and stuffed, being dressed in a feathered loincloth and displayed in a cabinet of curiosity. This was despite his baptism as a Catholic and the demands of his daughter Josephine.

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach

A professor and researcher at Gottingen University who was a racial scientist. He collected many skulls, and was the originator of the theory of five races: Caucasian, Mongolian, Malayan, Ethiopian, and American.

Therese Huber

The niece of Blumenbach; was a “faculty daughter” who had access to education because her father was a professor. She was an outspoken abolitionist, who traveled extensively with her husband Georg Forester. On a trip to Poland, she was moved by the feudal state of the country. Her “abolitionist awakening” was upon seeing the Josiah Wedgwood Medallion. She was the chief editor of a newspaper, which she used to spread her own political opinions through biased reporting of notable events. She did believe in the “civilizing mission,” and sending Christian missionaries to Africa, however.

Carl Hagenbeck

A showman and animal exhibitor who began using his animal exhibits as the template for human zoos, or Volkerschauen. He revolutionized zoos by promoting a more humane environment that replicated the natural environment of the displayed animals (Hagenbeck Revolution), but prototyped this in his human exhibitions. He promoted his shows as showcasing the “authentic culture” of the peoples displayed.

Lothar von Trotha

The governor of German South West Africa, where the infamous genocide of the Herero and Nama people took place. In the Von Trotha decree, he states that any Herero found within the “German” territory will be shot on site—man, woman, or child.

Berlin Conference

Organized by Otto von Bismarck; where all the leaders of Europe gathered in order to carve up Africa and designate which territories would be under the control of which countries. No Africans were present. Context: the “Scramble for Africa.”

Bradenburg African Company (BAC/BAAC)

Germans attempt at getting involved in the European slave trade. From the late 17th century into the early 18th century, the BAC would act as an intermediary, trading for slaves in Africa and delivering them to French, British, and Dutch buyers. Did not own any plantation colonies. Its HQ was Fort Gross Friedrichsburg in modern day Ghana. The German region of Silesia produced linen, which as much as 50% ended up going to Africa. Was eventually sold by Friedrich Wilhelm I to Dutch West Indies Company.

Herero and Nama Genocide

Occurred in colonial German South West Africa, now modern day Namibia. When some Hereros revolted against the German colonizers, the Germans forced the Herero out of their land in the Waterberg Plateau into the surrounding desert, where they were forced to stay until they died to the elements. The Germans would go on to create concentration camps for the Herero and Nama, selling some of them into slavery. An estimated up to 75% of the Herero population was killed, and 50% of the Nama population.

Reichstag Debate (1912)

Regarded the debate on whether to give the mixed race people born in the German colonies citizenship or not. Established Jus Sanguinis, or right of blood, which decided citizenship based off of patrilineality.

Rhineland Campaign

The French occupation of the Rhineland following WWI. Called the “Schmach am Rhine,” or terror on the Rhine. Was rife with propaganda campaigns that depicted the black occupying forces of raping German women en masse, being purposefully used by the French to “degenerate” the pure German race.

Rhineland Children

The approximately 400 to 1000 children born to the French black occupying forces and German mothers. The topic of many racial theories of France purposefully promoting miscegenation in Germany. Debates surrounded whether to sterilize these children.

Weimar Republic

The fragile democracy that emerged in Europe following WWI. Under it, a large cultural scene would emerge in Germany—especially Berlin. Some notable figures and institutions during this time were Otto Dix, the Bauhaus, and the three penny opera.

Josephine Baker

A black American female performer who performed in Paris and Berlin. She was famous for her iconic banana skirt, which would become the center of debates about whether her performances were radical or regressive. During World War II, she would become a spy for the Free French government, delivering messages into and out of German occupied France.

Eugen Fischer

A racial scientist and anthropologist working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute under Nazi Germany. He did field work in German South West Africa studying the mixed race children of the colony, which was published as “Rehoboth Basters.” He later sponsored Joseph Mengele, who would send body parts to the KWI for Fischer to study.

Franz Ritter von Epp

The “grandfather” of Nazi Germany. He was the general in charge of Munich, whose right hand man would go on to found the brown-shirts. He himself participated in the suppression of the Herero Rebellion under the Second Reich. He later employed Adolf Hitler to point out communists within his party, who would go on to become his protege.