Showing 14 results

Citation style: BArch, N 2225/...

History of the Inventory Designer: 1885 Imperial letter of protection issued for the acquisitions of the D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i k a Gesellschaft, 1885-1890 administration by the D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i kanische Gesellschaft under Carl Peters; 1891 assumption of direct administration by the German Reich; 1916 retreat of the Schutztruppe from the British-Belgian troops and collapse of the German administration; end of the war in D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i k a in November 1918. Inventory description: Inventory history The original inventory Authorities of the German protectorate Deutsch-Ostafrika is located in the National Archive of Tanzania in Dar es Salaam. The Central State Archives in Potsdam had 33 supplementary films for the period 1900 to 1916 made from this stock, some of which were selected. The 5 archive units described in the online find book presumably came with other colonial traditions to the Reichsarchiv and in 1950 to the Deutsches Zentralarchiv in Potsdam. Archivische Bearbeitung (Archive processing) The remaining files recorded in the Central State Archives in Potsdam have been the subject of a search index, whose information was stored in the database of the Federal Archives in 2002. In 2003, a finding aid book (R 1003 FC) was produced for the supplementary inventory films. Content characterization: Imperial Government of Dar es Salaam; Imperial Residences of Bukoba, Gitega, Rwanda, Urundi; Imperial District Branch Office of Umbulu; Imperial Administrative Branch Office of Usumbura; Personal Files. State of development: Findbuch 2003; Online-Findbuch 2005 Citation method: BArch, R 1003/...

History of the inventor: The cruiser squadron formed on 23.01.1897 was initially under the command of the Navy. After its dissolution in 1899, the squadron commander received for his area the powers previously exercised by the commanding admiral. The squadron was destroyed on 08.12.1914 near the Falkland Islands. Characterization of content: The stock also contains previous records of the cruciferous division as well as ad hoc cruciferous associations. Of particular value is the coverage of Zanzibar, West and East Africa, the Philippines and East Asia including Kiautschou. There are relatively extensive files on the use of the squadron in the Chinese Boxer Uprising 1900-1901 and the blockade of Venezuela 1902-1903. Only fragments of the war files have been preserved. State of development: Findbuch Scope, Explanation: 186 Citation method: BArch, RM 38/...

Federal Archives, BArch, BILD 105

History of the Inventory Designer: Founded on Feb. 12, 1885 as the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft Carl Peters und Genossen Kommanditgesellschaft; converted on Feb. 26, 1887 to the Aktiengesellschaft Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft AG (DOAG) with the purpose of exercising sovereignty in the regions of East Africa and acquiring, managing and exploiting estates; founded on Feb. 27, 1885 as the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft Carl Peters und Genossen Kommanditgesellschaft; converted on Feb. 26, 1887 to the Aktiengesellschaft Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft AG (DOAG) with the purpose of acquiring, managing and exploiting estates in the regions of East Africa; founded on Feb. 27, 1885 as the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft Carl Peters und Genossen Kommanditgesellschaft. March 1887 The King of Prussia grants the corporation rights, and on 4 July 1889 the Bundesrat of the German Reich grants them; on 1 January 1891 the Reich takes over the Deutsch-Ostafrika protectorate; DOAG continues to operate as a trading company. Content: German East African Society Carl Peters and Comrades Limited Partnership: Minutes of Management Meetings; German East African Society AG: Minutes of Board of Directors Meetings; Correspondence of the Board of Management; Printed Matters. State of development: Publication Findbuch and Online Findbuch 2003 Citation method: BArch, R 8124/...

History of the Inventor: After the German Reich had abandoned an active colonial policy in the first years of its existence due to foreign policy considerations, this changed in 1884. The colonies Deutsch-Südwestafrika, Togo, Cameroon, Deutsch-Neuguinea, Deutsch-Ostafrika and Samoa, formally referred to as "protectorates", emerged. The governorates of these protectorates established in the following period were first under the control of the Colonial Department in the A u s w ä r t i g e s A m t and finally of the resulting R e i c h s k o l o n i a l a m t . The Kiautschou leasehold in China, acquired in 1898, was subject to the R e i c h s m a r i n e a m t . From the very beginning it was necessary to be able to assert and protect the interests of the empire in the colonies by military force. In the initial phase, this task was performed by ships and landing commands of the Imperial Navy. In the German South Sea colonies this remained so until the end. In the African colonies there was a development of their own. In 1889, a troupe of German volunteers with a contract under an active officer (Captain Curt von François) was formed in D e u t s c h - S ü d w e s t a f r i k a , which was initially only to perform police duties. In 1889, in D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i k a, the Reich Commissioner Captain Herrmann Wissmann set up a troop of recruited Africans to suppress the "Arab Uprising" that broke out in 1888. With the law of 22 March 1891 the "Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Ostafrika" was finally formed from volunteers of the army and navy as well as recruited volunteers, followed by the "Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika" and the "Schutztruppe für Kamerun" with the law of 9 June 1895. A protection force for Togo was planned at times, but was not formed, just as there were no protection forces for German New Guinea or Samoa. Only police troops were formed there. In the respective protectorates the governor held the highest military power, the commander of the protection troop was subordinated to him. The protection troops were responsible for maintaining security and public order. At times the individual protection troops were exclusively occupied with the suppression of insurrections of the indigenous population. To this end, some considerable personnel reinforcements were recruited from Germany. The Schutztruppen were first led by the Reichsmarineamt. With the "Gesetz betreffend die Kaiserlichen Schutztruppen in den Afrikanischen Schutzgebieten und die Wehrpflicht daselbst" of 18 July 1896, the Schutztruppen were subordinated to the Reich Chancellor, administered by the Colonial Department in the Foreign Office. In the Colonial Department, the Department M - Military Administration (Command or High Command of the Protection Forces) was responsible. The Prussian War Ministry (Army Department) took over the organizational support. Command affairs were handled by the Director of the Colonial Department, with Division M as his military staff. With the establishment of the R e i c h s k o l o n i a l a m t by the Most High Decree of 17 May 1907, the command of the Schutztruppen was placed under its control, now as a military command staff with responsible command power. Like the Navy, the Schutztruppen were under the supreme command of the Emperor. Its members were volunteers of the army (or armies of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg) and the navy, who retired from the respective army or navy for the time of their service in the Schutztruppen and then returned there again. The male German population in the protectorates was subject to compulsory military service. The conscripts in the Schutztruppen were able to meet these demands. In 1913 the Schutztruppe included the following personnel: - Command of the Schutztruppe in Berlin: 80 men - Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Ostafrika: 2758 men (266 Germans, 2492 natives) - Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika: 1970 Mann (German) - Schutztruppe für Kamerun: 1471 Mann (171 German, 1300 indigenous) During the Herero Uprising, the Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika's personnel strength in 1907 was approx. 15,000 men. The outbreak of the First World War hit the German colonies unprepared. Defensive measures against other colonial powers had never been seriously considered, the Imperial Government had assumed that in the event of a European conflict the colonies could be kept out of the fighting according to the agreements in the Congo Act of 1885, despite warning voices from the colonies themselves. On 1 August 1914, therefore, only a state of emergency was declared in the protectorates. It was not until mid-August 1914 that mobilization began in the protectorates, but the armed units there (Schutztruppen, police troops, naval units present) were ultimately without a chance compared with the opponents who were far superior in terms of numbers and materials. The following were lost, partly after fierce fighting, partly without a fight: - on 27 August 1914 Togo - on 7 September 1914 Samoa - on 17 September 1914 Deutsch-Neuguinea - on 9 July 1915 Deutsch-Südwestafrika - in February 1916 Cameroon The Kiautschou leasehold area under the control of the Navy had capitulated after heavy fighting on 7 November 1914. It was only in D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i k a that the Schutztruppe was able to hold its ground to the end and thus bind considerable enemy forces. Their commander, Major General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, only laid down his weapons on 25 November 1918 on order from Berlin. Processing note: The stock RW 51 was originally created as stock for the "imperial protection troops and other German land forces overseas" and comprised 29 units. In 2010, the documents of the East Asian Expeditionary Corps were extracted and, together with the corresponding new additions, formed the newly created holdings RW 61. Since then, the holdings of RW 51 have consisted exclusively of documents of the Imperial Protection Forces and were subsequently fundamentally revised and developed further. Some new additions were added. Description of the holdings: The collection contains the documents of the Imperial Schutztruppen for D e u t s c h - S ü d w e s t a f r i k a , D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i k a and Cameroon, as well as the command of the Schutztruppen, as far as they are available in the military archives. Characterization of content: The inventory contains only a few real fact files. It consists above all of a compilation of commandos of the Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Ostafrika from 1907 to 1914, as well as a file of the same commandos with reports of subordinated units and offices from 1916. In addition there are documents on organization and supply in Deutsch-Ostafrika and Deutsch-Südwestafrika and in particular some hand-drawn maps. Only two documents have survived on Cameroon. State of development: The inventory RW 51 was originally created as an inventory for the "imperial protection troops and other German land forces overseas" and comprised 29 units. In 2010, the documents of the East Asian Expeditionary Corps were extracted and, together with the corresponding new additions, formed the newly created holdings RW 61. Since then, the holdings of RW 51 have consisted exclusively of documents of the Imperial Protection Forces and were subsequently fundamentally revised and developed further. Some new additions were added. Pre-archival order: The tradition of the Schutztruppen In the Bundearchiv military archive is purely fragmentary. The Schutztruppen archive in the Heeresarchiv was destroyed during the air raid on Potsdam in April 1945. This applies to the personnel files of the Schutztruppen and to the records in the archives of the Schutztruppen in the colonies themselves. The tradition of the command of the Schutztruppen is essentially in the R 1001 R e i c h s k o l o n i a l a m t . The documents of the protection troops remaining in Africa after the First World War are now in the national archives of Tanzania (Dar es Salaam), Namibia (Windhoek) and Cameroon (Duala). In addition, the Belgian Imperial Archives in Brussels contain documents of the Rwandan Schutztruppen. Films on the documents in Windhoek and Dar es Salaam can be found in the Federal Archives in Berlin. Replacement records of the Schutztruppen and their deployments can be found above all in the documents of the Imperial Navy, which as a rule acted in a supportive capacity or, during uprisings, also issued landing commands. In addition, reference should be made to the tradition of the contingents of protection troops in the respective state archives provided by Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg. Scope, explanation: 30 AU Citation method: BArch, RW 51/...

Citation style: BArch, N 2139/...

History of the Inventory Designer: General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck Life data 20.03.1870 born in Saarlouis 09.03.1964 died in Hamburg Career 1881 Cadet 1884 Main Cadet Institute Groß-Lichterfelde 07.02.1888 Portepee-Fähnrich at the 4.Garderegiment on foot 1889 Sekondeleutnant 1895 Premierleutnant 1900/01 Participation in the Boxer Movement China; Promotion to Captain 1904-1906 Deutsch-Südwestafrika; First Adjutant in the staff of the commander of the Schutztruppe "Lothar von Trotha" and as Company Chief at the suppression of the uprising of the Herero 1906 Kommandierung to the Großer Generalstab 1907 Promotion to Major; Adjutant of the Generalkommando des 11. Army Corps 1909 Commander II Sea Battalions in Wilhelmshaven 1913 Promotion to Lieutenant Colonel 18.10.1903 Commander of the Imperial Protection Corps for Cameroon 13.04.1914 Commander Protection Corps D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i k a 1918 Promotion to Major General Apr. 1919 Command of the Guard Cavalry Shooting Corps under the Marine Division Oct. 1919 Leadership of the Reichswehr Brigade 9 of the "Transitional Army" in Schwerin 1920 Characterisation as Lieutenant General and dismissal from the Reichswehr 1923 Wholesale merchant 1928-1930 Member of Parliament of the conservative German National People's Party in the Reichstag 1930 Change to the People's Conservative Union 1933 State Council in Bremen 27.08.1939 (so called Tannenbergtag) Character of a general of the infantry 1956 Honorary citizen of his birth town Saarlouis Awards 04.11.1916 Pour le Merite 10.10.1917 Eichenlaub zum Pour le Merite 30.01.1920 Ritterkreutz der sächsischen Militär-St.-The estate contains personal papers, documents on military and public honours, private and private correspondence, diary notes and memoirs as well as elaborations on various topics and photographs from the life of General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck (20.3.1870-9.3.1964). The collection documents the personal and military career of Lettow-Vorbecks, including his participation in the Boxer War in China (1901-1904) as an adjutant of the 1st East Asian Infantry Brigade, his deployment in the command of the Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika (1905-1906) and as commander of the Schutztruppe Deutsch-Ostafrika (1914-1918). In addition, Lettow-Vorbeck's activities as a war veteran and member of the Reichstag of the DNVP in the Weimar Republic and the reactions to his death in 1964 will be highlighted, as will his work on colonial history and documentations on political topics from the time of the Weimar Republic, in particular the Reichswehr and the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch. References to other holdings, in particular RM 5 - Navy Admiral Staff; RW 51 - Imperial Protection Forces and other Overseas Forces; R 1001 - Reichskolonialamt; R 1002 - Authorities of the former protectorate Deutsch-Südwestafrika; digital photos of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck from the Federal Archives' image holdings can be found in the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia Content Characterization: Because of its great importance and the intensive demand for it from researchers, the estate was processed and recorded in the archives soon after it was handed over to the Federal Archives at the end of the 1960s. In 2008, the indexing of the holdings was fundamentally revised while retaining the older archival order. Pre-archival order: The estate of Paul von Lettow-Vorbecks was transferred to the Federal Archives in August 1964 by the daughter of Countess Heloise von Rantzau-Pronstorf, who died in the same year. It had initially been deposited there as a deposit, on 31 December 1999 the documents became the property of the Federal Archives. The holdings contain self-testimonies and autobiographical records at various stages of their development; the classification features of the archival indexing could not always be clearly assigned due to the specific character of the documents. Citation style: BArch, N 103/...

History of the Inventor: Founder of the Gesellschadt für deutsche Kolonisation (the later Deutsch-Ostafrikanischen Gesellschaft), Reichskommissar in the German protectorate of East Africa Citation method: BArch, N 2223/...

History of the Inventory Designer: 27.06.1875 - 09.07.1903, Lieutenant of the Imperial Protection Force Inventory description: Correspondence from his service with the Protection Force in D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i k a; manuscript of a biography. Citation style: BArch, N 85/...

History of the Inventory Designer: 1907 Formation of the R e i c h s k o l o n i a l a m t from the Colonial Department of the A u s w ä r t i g e s A m t ; 1919 Transformation into a R e i c h s k o l o n i a l ministry and assumption of the liquidation business for the former German colonial territories; after its dissolution in 1920, assumption of the tasks by the R e i c h s m a r i n a m i n g for reconstruction (Colonial Central Administration) until its dissolution in 1924; thereafter, processing of colonial affairs again by the A u s w ä r t i g e s A m t . Inventory description: Inventory history The files of the central colonial administration of the German Reich have been subject to organisational changes from the subject area or department at kaiserli‧chen Auswärtiges Amt to the Imperial Reichsamt and Ministry of the Wei‧marer Republic and back to the department or department at the Auswärtiges Amt. Many volumes of files or subject series were easily continued organically beyond the verschie‧denen changes; for the period after 1920 this often means that they slowly ebbed away. Real breaks in the Aktenfüh‧rung can usually not be determined. The registry of Reichskolonialmi‧niste‧riums therefore formed a closed one in 1919 and after the extensive loss of colonial political tasks in the eyes of many even closed Kör‧per. The files were distributed according to the former secret registries of the Reichsko‧lonialamts as follows: Secret registry KA I East Africa Secret registry KA II Southwest Africa Secret registry KA III South Sea Secret registry KA IV Cameroon and Togo Secret registry KA V Legal cases Secret registry KA VI Scientific and medical cases Secret registry KA VII General secret registry KA VIII Agriculture Secret registry KA I-VII Foreign Countries and Possessions Secret Registry KB I Budget and Accounting Secret Registry KB II Technical Matters Secret Registry KB III Railway Matters Already in the Cabinet Meeting on 1. In 1919, the Reich Minister of the Interior, Matthias Erzberger, had spoken about the files of the then still existing Kolonialministeri‧ums and had suggested that "the archives of the Reichs‧kolonialamts and the Reich Marine Office should be merged with the corresponding facilities of the Großer Generalstab and an independent Reich archive should be created in a city yet to be determined, which would be directly subordinated to the Reich Ministry [cabinet]". Ministerialdirigent Meyer-Gerhard had contradicted this in his memorandum of 30 Sept. 1919 and demanded that both the files and the extensive library of the R e i c h s k o l o n i a l ministry be handed over to the A u s w ä r t i g e s A m t , where he also wanted to see the permanently preserved Orga‧nisati‧onseinheiten of the Colonial Ministry located. Only the files that were no longer needed were to be destroyed or handed over to the Reich Archives. In fact, the files were initially handed over to the R e i c h s m i n g e r a m i n g for reconstruction and were inspected in 1924 when the Colonial Department was transferred to the Foreign Office. An inventory shows which files were transferred directly to the Reichsarchiv, transferred to the Auswärtiges Amt, or immediately became ver‧nichtet . While only very few files were immediately destroyed and by far the largest part of the files were immediately handed over to the archive, bean‧spruchte the Federal Foreign Office, in addition to some documents of fundamental Be‧deutung, even from long chronological volume sequences, mostly only those volumes which were important for the ak‧tuellen business and left the older volumes in each case to the archive. However, a large part of the Ak‧ten taken over from the Federal Foreign Office was also handed over to the Reichsarchiv during the course of the continuous reduction process to which the kolonialpoliti‧sche subdivision or the "Colonial Department" was exposed. Remnants of these documents were handed over to the Federal Archives by the Auswärti‧gen Office in February 2000. In 1945 the Reichsarchiv was probably home to a largely complete record of the central colonial administration of the German Reich. The orga‧nische character of the tradition forbid a breakdown of the documents, so that the entire tradition was stored in one inventory at the R e i c h s k o l o n i a l a m t zusammenge‧faßt . The R e i c h s k o l o n i a l a m t's destruction of the R e i c h s c h s a f t on 14 April 1945 severely affected the R e i c h s k o l o n i a l a m t's Ak‧ten . Approximately 30 of the holdings were burnt, including the registries KB I (budget and Rech‧nungswesen), II (technical matters) and III (railway matters). Also the files of the Schutztruppen and the files of the administrations that have reached the Reichsarchiv ein‧zelner Schutzgebiete have completely fallen victim to the flames. Archivische Bewertung und Bearbeitung In the Central State Archives of the GDR in Potsdam, the original registry order was discarded as Klassifika‧tion for the holdings during the processing of the Be‧stands 10.01 R e i c h s k o l o n i a l a m t . The mixed order, which combined registration, systematic and territorial criteria of order, was replaced by a structure, which arranged the files according to territorial aspects as far as possible. In the course of the revision of the finding aids for the present finding aid, which were compiled in the Central State Archives, the original order of the holdings was restored with the help of the registry aids that had been transferred to Bundesar‧chiv in 2000. The contexts of the original Regi‧straturordnung, according to An‧sicht, provide the author with a better and more systematic overview of the overall tradition than the systematic aspects of ver‧schleiernde "regionalisation" of the holdings. The former "Koblenz" inventory R 101 Reichskolonialamt consisted mainly of copies which the colonial writer Georg Thielmann-Groeg made, mainly in Reichsar‧chiv, from the files of the Reichskolonialamt. The indexing of this collection die‧sem Findbuch, which goes down to the individual file piece, is attached in an appendix because it compiles important documents on German colonial history in compressed form - with a focus on GermanSüd‧west‧afrika. For reasons of conservation, the oversized investment cards were taken from the volumes in inventory R 1001 and replaced by reference sheets. The maps were recorded on color macrofiches and organized in a mapNeben‧bestand under the designation R 1001 Kart. Content characterisation: Colonies and colonial policy, general; military and navy; colonial law, police matters; slaves and slave trade; research, surveying, demarcation; immigration, settlement, support, civil status; economy, trade, customs, taxes; agriculture and forestry; post and transport; missions and schools; health care. Non-German colonies and Liberia: British colonies; French colonies; Portuguese and Spanish colonies; Italian, Dutch, North American colonies. D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i k a and D e u t s c h - S ü d w e s t a f r i k a: Colonisation, general management and administration, political development; military and police, inspection and information tours; colonial law, criminal cases, inheritance and real estate; slavery and slave trade; research, surveying, demarcation; immigration, settlement, support, civil status; economy, trade, customs, taxes; agriculture, forestry, fishing; postal services and transport; missions and schools; health care. Cameroon: German-West African Trading Company, South and North-West Cameroon Society; colonisation, central and regional administration; political development; military and police, inspection and information tours; colonial law; research, surveying, demarcation; immigration, settlement, support, civil status; economy, trade, customs, taxes, banks, agriculture and forestry, fisheries; postal and transport services; health care; missions and schools. Togo: central and regional administration, political development; military and police, inspection and information missions; colonial law; research, surveying, demarcation; immigration, settlement, support, civil status; economy, trade, customs, taxes, banks; agriculture, forestry, fisheries; postal services and transport; missions, schools, health care. Congo: General; Berlin Conference. New Guinea: New Guinea company; colonization, central and regional administration, political development; military and police; colonial law; research, surveying, demarcation; immigration, settlement, support, civil status; economy, trade, taxes, customs, banks; agriculture, forestry, fishing; post and transport; health care, schools. Caroline, Mariana and Palau Islands: colonisation, general, management and administration, political development; colonial law; research, surveying, demarcation; immigration, settlement, support, civil status; economy, trade, customs, taxes; post and transport; missions, schools, health care. Samoa: colonisation, central and regional administration, political development; military; colonial law, police matters; research, surveying, demarcation; immigration, resettlement, civil status; economy, trade, customs, taxes, banks; agriculture and forestry; post, transport, shipping; missions, schools, health care. Marshall Islands: colonization, general management and administration, political development; research, surveying, settlement, employment; trade, customs, taxes, post, transport; missions, school, health care. Solomon Islands: Kiautschou/China R 1001 Annex: photocopies of documents on the acquisition of German colonial territories; photocopies of documents on Deutsch-Südwestafrika; copies of files of the Reichskolonialamt on Deutsch-Südwestafrika; diary of the Hottentot leader Hendrik Witbooi in Deutsch-Südwestafrika; horse breeding in North Cameroon. Erinnerungen von Kurt Freiherr von Crailsheim; "Kriegsnachrichten" newspaper from Deutsch-Südwestafrika, vol. 1915 no. 3; reproductions of portraits of various persons in Deutsch-Südwestafrika; curriculum vitae of Reichskommissar Dr. jur. Heinrich Goering. State of development: Publication Findbuch (2002); Online Findbuch (2003) Citation method: BArch, R 1001/...