Group items tagged

The article's author declared that German colonialists would have to reorient themselves away from exploration toward new ways of exerting control over Africa.2

While travel, including exploratory travel, remained central to the German experience in East Africa after 1

arked the end of an era for how the German reading public experienced that travel. The style of travel writing about East Africa changed to fit the new needs of the colonial state and the reading demands of the metropolitan p

K), the founding organization of Germany's East African colony, repurposed the scientific travel narrative that had formed the entirety of their knowledge about East Africa before 1884 to further the organization's goals of building a colonial e

Travelogues were particularly important in German East Africa as compared to Germany's other colonies because the GfdK began its acquis

«That of the encounter between a European explorer, the intrepid leader of an expeditionary caravan and emissary of s

tion of territory without the support of existing networks in the region and contrary to the Bismarck regime's wishes (Smith 32

tion of territory without the support of existing networks in the region and contrary to the Bismarck regime's wishe

International African Association exploratory expedition, a hunting trip, a scientific expedition, or an English trading expedition (Wagner 28).8

Scientific accounts of East African travel by German explorers and missionaries were prominent in Germany in the early 1880s, despite Germany's lack of a form

nths of existence, they suggested possible places to find such wide stretches. Their lack of knowledge of Africa was apparent in their proposals: Joseph Freiherr Molitor von Mühlfeld called for greater emigration to Argentina, Major Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander von Mechow suggested colonizing on the Kwango River, and Alexander Merensky recommended what is today southern Angola

Like earlier travelers, Peters and Pfeil went on lecture tours and presented their travels to metropolitan audiences.1

The 1884 expedition's members followed the pre-colonial travelers' methods and published travelogues about their exploration and conquest.

They inspired him to dream up a plan to acquire land in East Africa. Great riches, he believed, were to be made on Lake Malawi. He suggested the region of Usagara, which according to Stanley held great hope for colonial development (Zur Erwerbung 5

Explorers frequently suggested that their travels served a higher calling that would advance the progress of humanity. A calling beyond the self explained the explorer's willingness to brave danger and made him a hero to those who believed in the same calling. To promote their own bravery and skill in the eyes of European audiences, explorers had to convince them that the dangers they faced were beyond anything one could experience in Europe. Explorers traversed unknown places posing a great deal of personal danger and had to depend on aid networks of which they had little knowle

avelers drew comparisons between African societies and ones more familiar to European audiences.

Peter s's and Pfeil's travelogues fit many of the topoi of earlier travelogues about East Africa, but they sought to fix their travels as permanent markers on the East African landscape, to make German colonialism real in East Africa through writing.

Like earlier travelers, Peters cited European history to make his argument, but he used a specifically German history in a way that inscribed German cultural achievements onto the

ition» 304). In all of his accounts of East African travel, Peters resorted frequently to quoting poetry to demonstrate his Germanness or a European spirit of exploration. His historical references were not meant merely to make landscapes more familiar to domestic audiences, but served to make them specif

Travel for Hellgrewe was a series of short vignettes as he moved between stations of German

isen

Kultur in the East African wilderness; travel was not the long journey away from civili

Hellgrewe's book makes clear that the change in form could not be attributed solely to the lack o

new areas to explore. Hellgrewe still searched for the fetishized African wilderness that had motivated pre-colonial German travelers to East Africa and provided the majority of the material for their ac

Such was the state of travel writing as planning began for the German expedition to rescue Emin Pasha in 1888. Inspiration for the expedition had come largely from a travel narrative in the pre-colonial style, Wilhelm Junker's Reisen

in Afrika. Junker had traveled in East Central Africa from 1875 throu

1886. Near the end of his travels, he had become trapped in Equatoria when the Mahdi attacked Khartoum

Pre-colonial travelers had been able to establish their own myths through their expeditionary narrative, but Peters was not afforded the chance in the wake of his failed expedition.

ast Africa. Other forms of travel writing replaced the travelogue of African exploration prevalent earlier in the century. Expeditionary reports certainly remained central to German colonization in East Africa after 1891. As

here was great interest concerning this oil field among government officials and at least one bank president, M. Jean LELANNE, (the Banque Afrique Occidentale).,The geologist, Mr. KEDAISKA, who speaks English and who said he had worked for ARAMCO in the Near East ventured the opinion that the stratigraphic column appeared similar to the Sprawberry of West Texas in 1945. Surveys so far have led him to believe that there is a stratigraphic relationship to the first field explored in Bassa and possibly to that at Port Gentil in the Gabon near which drillings are being carried on by the other subsidiary, SPAEF

here was great interest concerning this oil field among government officials and at least one bank president, M. Jean LELANNE, (the Banque Afrique Occidentale).

the rig was moved to a location about 50 kilo-^,meters to the west of the Wouri River from Douala.

The geologist, Mr. KEDAISKA, who speaks English and who said he had worked for ARAMCO in the Near East ventured the opinion that the stratigraphic column appeared similar to the Sprawberry of West Texas in 1945. Surveys so far have led him to believe that there is a stratigraphic relationship to the first field explored in Bassa and possibly to that at Port Gentil in the Gabon near which drillings are being carried on by the other subsidiary, SPAEF.

The new field of exploration, determined by seismic survey, is a rectangle two miles long, runpjlng east-west and one and six-tenths miles wide, running north-south (Magnetic North)

s located in the forest approximately two miles SWW from Bomona Village which is 18 miles by road from Bonaberi, a town on the Wouri River opposite Douala.

I

t

Drilling has been conducted since early 1953 and during a part of August in spite of the heavy rains but was forced to a halt during the months of September and part of October.,

This marked the beginning of a new era of European involvement in Africa, and in Central Africa in particular.

However, the emphasis shifted towards territorial consolidation, which absorbed much of the exploratory effort of the involved nations since the 1880s.

Léopold’s ambitions were clear: as the sovereign of the smallest of the European states reaching out to Africa, he wanted to acquire a large territory that would give him international status among the other nations, at the same time allowing him to secure access to a vast reservoir of natural resources.

When Britain occupied Egypt in 1882, European interest in other parts of the continent grew, and the so-called “scramble for Africa” began in earnest. While Britain, France, and Portugal could build on and branch out from territories they had already established under their flag, Germany lagged behind in the race but acted vigorously to catch up.

Larger-scale regional maps were now needed — and were produced in profusion across Europe, to substantiate, both administratively and commercially, the consolidation of newly acquired European possessions.

As the market for up-to-date maps grew in the European nations engaged in colonizing Africa, so did the cartographic output by geographical establishments and societies.

They all published a plethora of more or less detailed maps of the continent and its constituent parts in order to illustrate and document the latest results of African exploration and the colonizing campaigns they supported, complementing the output of established suppliers of maps.

Two important events, one political, the other historical, are of relevance to our subject here.

reports that a plan to produce a large map of Africa was formulated towards the end of 1884,

The choice of Africa rather than other parts of the globe offered itself on account of the incredibly rich body of maps, travel, and exploration documentation that Perthes could still draw upon, and Africa ranked particularly high as a subject of interest in this time of heated colonial contest.

At least half of all the maps published in the PGM in the 1880s were of Africa, and the 1885 volume contained even more maps on Africa than on all other parts of the world together (eleven against eight, not counting thematic and general maps). 1