The German New Guinea Company (german: Deutsche Neuguinea-Kompagnie) was a German
Chartered Company
A chartered company is an association with investors or shareholders that is incorporated and granted rights (often exclusive rights) by royal charter (or similar instrument of government) for the purpose of trade, exploration, and/or coloniz ...
which exploited insular territory in and near present
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
.
History
In the 1870s and 1880s German commercial firms began to site trading stations in
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
. Agents of
J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn reached the
Bismarck Archipelago
The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km.
History
The first inhabitants o ...
from the
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...
in 1872. In 1875 Hersheim & Company moved to the Archipelago.
In 1884, the New Guinea Company was founded in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
by
Adolph von Hansemann
Adolph von Hansemann (27 July 1826 – 9 December 1903) was an German Empire, Imperial German businessman and banker.
Life
Born in Aachen in 1826 to German banker and railroad entrepreneur David Hansemann, Adolph Hansemann developed an early int ...
and a syndicate of German bankers for the purpose of colonizing and exploiting resources on ''Neuguinea'' (
German New Guinea
German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...
), where
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
interest grew after British
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
's annexation of part of eastern
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
.
This expedition was with the knowledge and blessing of the German Chancellor, Count
Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
, and with secrecy and speed an expedition was fitted out under Dr
Otto Finsch
Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (8 August 1839, Warmbrunn – 31 January 1917, Braunschweig) was a German ethnographer, natural history, naturalist and colonial explorer. He is known for a two-volume monograph on the parrots of the world which earned ...
, ornithologist and explorer.
![Neu Guinea Compagnie 1926](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Neu_Guinea_Compagnie_1926.jpg)
His task was to select land for plantation development on the north-east coast of New Guinea and establish trading posts. Its influence soon grew to encompass the entire north-eastern part of New Guinea and some of the islands off the coast.
The Neuguinea Compagnie expedition left
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
for New Guinea in the steamer ''Samoa'' captained by
Eduard Dallmann Eduard Dallmann (11 March 1830 – 23 December 1896) was a German whaler, trader, and Polar explorer.
Dallmann was born in Blumenthal, at-the-time a village just to the north of Bremen. He began his adventures as a young sailor at the age of&n ...
. On 19 August, Chancellor Bismarck ordered the establishment of a German protectorate in the New Britain Archipelago and north-eastern New Guinea.
German colonial rule in New Guinea lasted for a period of thirty years, For the first fifteen years the colony was administered under imperial charters by a private company, in the manner of the old
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and
Dutch East India companies, but with far less success. From 1899 to 1914, the Imperial Government administered German New Guinea through a governor, who was assisted after 1904 by a nominated Government Council.
When the Imperial Government took over the running of the colony in 1899, its overriding objective was rapid economic development, based on a German- controlled plantation economy.
[Linke, R 2006, The influence of German surveying on the development of New Guinea,]
Association of Surveyors of PNG
Accessed 25 January 2014.
Sources
External links
*
German New Guinea
History of Papua New Guinea
Morobe Province
Lae
German companies established in 1884
Chartered companies
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