The Imperial Colonial Office (german: Reichskolonialamt) was a governmental agency of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

tasked with managing Germany's overseas territories. Dissolved after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, on 20 February 1919 the Imperial Colonial Ministry (''Reichskolonialministerium'') of the German

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

replaced the Imperial Colonial Office, dealing with settlements and closing-out of affairs of the occupied and lost colonies.

Development and reorganization

From its inception in 1884, a colonial service organization performed administrative functions (policy and management) for the executive arm of the imperial government. By order of Reich Chancellor

Leo von Caprivi Georg Leo Graf von Caprivi de Caprara de Montecuccoli ( English: ''Count George Leo of Caprivi, Caprara, and Montecuccoli''; born Georg Leo von Caprivi; 24 February 1831 – 6 February 1899) was a German general and statesman who served as the ch ...

on 1 April 1890, responsibility for the colonial service was with the Colonial Department (''Kolonialabteilung''), still as a subsection in the German

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

(''Auswärtiges Amt''), but led by a head of section answerable to the

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

. By the law of 18 July 1896 the department further co-supervised the colonial military or protection force, the ''

Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned ...

'', with its headquarters (''Kommando der Schutztruppen'') formerly billeted in the Imperial Naval Office (''Reichsmarineamt''). By the late 19th century the need evolved for a separate, higher ranking agency that shall report directly to the Reich Chancellor. A decree by Emperor

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

of 17 May 1907 removed the Colonial Department together with the ''Schutztruppe'' command from the Foreign Office and elevated it to a central authority in its own right, the ''Reichskolonialamt'', to be managed by a cabinet-level Secretary of State. The new office was then physically relocated to a building on Berlin’s

Wilhelmstrasse Wilhelmstrasse (german: Wilhelmstraße, see ß) is a major thoroughfare in the central Mitte and Kreuzberg districts of Berlin, Germany. Until 1945, it was recognised as the centre of the government, first of the Kingdom of Prussia, later of t ...

No. 62 (demolished in 1938) near Wilhelmplatz, where the Colonial Department of the Foreign Office had resided since 1905. The ''Schutztruppe'' command structure was also reorganized and moved to Mauerstrasse No. 45/46, in close proximity of the ''Reichskolonialamt'' location. This legislation represented a complete reorganization and was a direct response to the nationwide so-called "Hottentot election", after allegations of colonial malfeasance, corruption and brutality (e.g. the

Herero and Namaqua Genocide The Herero and Namaqua genocide or the Herero and Nama genocide was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment waged by the German Empire against the Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama in German South West Africa (now Namibia). I ...

in German South-West Africa) surfaced in the German print media and culminated in the dissolution of the Reichstag parliament. The shake-up subsequently involved extensive and wide-ranging personnel changes in civil service positions in the colonies. The newly established ''Reichskolonialamt'' led by Secretary of State

Bernhard Dernburg Bernhard Dernburg (17 July 1865 – 14 October 1937) was a German liberal politician and banker. He served as the secretary for Colonial Affairs and head of the Imperial Colonial Office from May 1907 to 9 June 1910, and as the minister of Finance ...

reported directly to the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

, the Reich Chancellor.

Heads of the ''Kolonialabteilung'' in the Foreign Office

*Friedrich Richard Krauel (1848–1918), in office 1 April 1890 – 30 June 1890 *Paul Kayser (1845–1898), in office 1 July 1890 – 14 October 1896 *

Oswald von Richthofen Oswald Samuel Konstantin Freiherr von Richthofen (13 October 1847, in Iași – 17 January 1906, in Berlin, Germany), a German diplomat and politician, served as Foreign Secretary and head of the Foreign Office from 23 October 1900 to 17 January ...

(1847–1906), in office 15 October 1896 – 31 March 1898 *Gerhard von Buchka (1851–1935), in office 1 April 1898 – 12 June 1900 *Oscar Wilhelm Stübel (1846–1921), in office 12 June 1900 – 16 November 1905 * Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1863–1950), in office 16 November 1905 – 5 July 1906 *

(1865–1937), in office 5 September 1906 – 16 May 1907

''Reichskolonialamt'' secretaries of state

(1865–1937), in office 17 May 1907 – 9 June 1910 *

Friedrich von Lindequist Friedrich von Lindequist (born 15 September 1862 in Wostevitz on Rügen; died 25 June 1945 at Macherslust near Eberswalde, Germany) was a high colonial official of the German Reich. He served as Governor of German South West Africa from November ...

(1862–1945), in office 10 June 1910 – 3 November 1911 *

Wilhelm Solf Wilhelm Heinrich Solf (5 October 1862 – 6 February 1936) was a German scholar, diplomat, jurist and statesman. Early life Solf was born into a wealthy and liberal family in Berlin. He attended secondary schools in Anklam, western Pomerania, an ...

(1862–1936), in office 20 December 1911 – 13 December 1918 *

Johannes Bell Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...

(1868–1949), Colonial Political Envoy at the Paris Peace Conference from 13 February 1919 to 20 June 1919

Structure

The new ''Reichskolonialamt'' had three departments ''Abteilungen'': *Department A dealt with general political, policy and administrative functions *Department B managed fiscal, transport and technical tasks *Department C was concerned with personnel matters *The subordinated ''Kolonialhauptkasse'' main cashiers bureau dealt with disbursements, payrolls and other financial transactions *The headquarters command of the ''Schutztruppe'' was often seen as the quasi fourth department, with colonial governors nominally the superiors of troop commanders in the field The ''Kolonialrat'' colonial advisory board was replaced in 1908 (after the major reorganizations of 1907) by a panel of independent experts. A ''Landeskundliche Kommission'' scientific and geographic commission for exploration functioned for several years before its mission was modified and replaced in 1911 by the ''Ständige Wirtschaftliche Kommission'' permanent economic commission. Further commissions were formed by the German Agriculture Council and tasked with advising the colonial office. The records of the ''Reichskolonialamt'' and other documents from the colonies are now preserved at the branch location at Berlin-Lichterfelde of the German Federal Archives and were previously held at the ''Deutsches Zentralarchiv'', Potsdam, an agency of the former East German regime.

References

Zeller, Joachim & von der Heyden, Ulrich. ''Kolonialmetropole Berlin - eine Spurensuche'' Colonial Metropolis Berlin - a Search for Traces. Berlin. 2002. * Wolfgang Reith: "Die Kaiserlichen Schutztruppen", "Deutschlands Kolonialarmee 1889 - 1919, Windhoek 2017, ISBN 978-99916-909-6-4 * Wolfgang Reith: "Eine Frage der nationalen Ehre", "Nationalsozialistische Pläne für eine neue Deutsche Kolonialpolitik", Windhoek 2019, ISBN 978-99916-895-2-4

External links