Hermann Wilhelm Wilberg (1880 – 24 November 1946) was a German

mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

. Born in 1880 in Dortmund, Germany, the son of a butcher, Wilberg studied mine engineering. From 1899 to 1910 he worked for the ''Oberbergamt'' (mining office) in

Halle/Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anh ...

, Germany. before moving to Mogadir, Morocco as representative for the Hamburg-Marrokko-Gesellschaft. In summer 1911 he was sent to

Agadir Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and south ...

on behalf of the

German Foreign Office , logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg , logo_width = 260 px , image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg , picture_width = 300px , image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building , headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...

in order to provide the pretext for the German intervention in Morocco resulting in the

Agadir crisis The Agadir Crisis, Agadir Incident, or Second Moroccan Crisis was a brief crisis sparked by the deployment of a substantial force of French troops in the interior of Morocco in April 1911 and the deployment of the German gunboat to Agadir, a ...

. Due to delays in his journey he did not make it in time to be "rescued" by a German gunboat, only arriving in Agadir on 4 July 1911, three days after . This resulted in him being dubbed the "Endangered German" in posterity. In May 1912 he married Margarete von Maur, daughter of Heinrich von Maur, the

Mannesmann Mannesmann was a German industrial conglomerate. It was originally established as a manufacturer of steel pipes in 1890 under the name "Deutsch-Österreichische Mannesmannröhren-Werke AG". (Loosely translated: "German-Austrian Mannesmann pi ...

representative in Morocco. Returning to Germany later that year, he worked for the ''Oberbergamt''

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

Later Wilberg served on the board of the ''Sol- und Thermalbad Wilhelmsquelle'' in

Wanne-Eickel Herne () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area directly between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen. History Like most other cities in the region, Herne (ancient Haranni) was a tiny village until the ...

and various other administrative positions but mainly for the ''Berginspektion''

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines ...

. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

in Lager Staumühle (Civil Internment Camp No. 5) near Paderborn by the British military government where he died 24 November 1946, aged 66 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilberg, Hermann 1880 births 1946 deaths Scientists from Dortmund German mining engineers Agadir German colonisation in Africa 20th-century German engineers Engineers from North Rhine-Westphalia