Otto von Bismarck, der ‚Eiserne Kanzler‘, der erst Preußen zu Glanz und Gloria gebracht hat und dann zum ‚Vater der Nation‘ wurde, weil er als genialer und visionärer Politiker das zweite deutsche Kaiserreich geschaffen habe. Auf der anderen Seite der ‚Anti-Demokrat‘, der das Parlament ebenso wie die Arbeiter:innenbewegung verachtet hat und für den die Sozialdemokratie „Ratten im Lande“ waren, die „vertilgt“ werden müssen.

Es ist nicht ganz leicht Bismarck aus einer geschichtswissenschaftlichen Perspektive eindeutig zu verstehen und einzuordnen. Das gilt sowohl für seine Bedeutung bei der Gründung eines deutschen Nationalstaates, als auch für seine Rolle für die deutsche Kolonialgeschichte. 1881 sagte er noch ganz klar: „So lange ich Reichskanzler bin, treiben wir keine Kolonialpolitik.“
Und bestätigte 1888, dass seine Karte von Afrika in der Mitte von Europa, zwischen Russland und Frankreich liegt, womit er meinte, dass sein Blick auf den afrikanischen Kontinent daran ausgerichtet ist, die Großmachtstellung des Kaiserreichs in Europa abzusichern.

Und dazwischen? Innerhalb von wenigen Monaten ließ er 1884 und 85 mehrere Gebiete auf dem afrikanischen Kontinent und im Südpazifik unter sogenannte ‚Schutzherrschaft‘ stellen und ermöglichte somit an entscheidender Stelle die Entstehung der deutschen Kolonien Togo, Kamerun, Deutsch-Südwestafrika, Deutsch-Ostafrika und Deutsch-Neuguinea. Im April 1884 ließ er die durch Betrug erworbenen Besitzungen des Bremer Händlers Adolf Lüderitz per Telegramm unter den Schutz des Deutschen Kaiserreichs stellen. Innerhalb weniger Monate war das deutsche Kolonialreich entstanden, nur 13 Jahre nach dem Kaiserreich und von der Fläche das drittgrößte, nach England und Frankreich. Ungefähr zur gleichen Zeit, vom November 1884 bis Februar 1885, hat auf Einladung Bismarcks in Berlin die ‚Afrika-Konferenz‘ stattgefunden. Dort haben sich europäische Kolonialmächte getroffen, um einen Rahmen im internationalen Recht zu schaffen, mit dem die kolonialen Gebietsansprüche untereinander zugesichert werden konnten. Ohne sich für die Menschen, die in diesen Gebieten lebten, zu interessieren oder deren Interessen auf der Konferenz zu berücksichtigen. Die Grenzen der heutigen Staaten in Afrika und die damit zusammenhängenden Probleme und Konflikte, sind eine bis heute bestehende direkte Folge dieser Konferenz in Berlin unter Bismarcks Führung. Dies Rolle Bismarcks und der Berliner Afrika-Konferenz sind aus einer globalgeschichtlichen Perspektive gar nicht zu gering einzuschätzen. Obwohl er durchaus eher punktuell und kurz in der langen und komplexen europäischen Kolonialexpansion mitgewirkt hat, waren die Folgen seiner Handlungen von globalem Ausmaß und mit Auswirkungen, die bis heute andauern.

Es ist viel dazu geschrieben worden, warum Otto von Bismarck sich im Frühjahr und Sommer 1884 entschieden hat den langjährigen Forderungen der Bremer und Hamburger Kaufleuten nachzugeben und ihre Besitzungen an der südwestafrikanischen Küste und im heutigen Kamerun unter den Schutz des Kaiserreichs zu stellen. Die genauen Motive werden wir wohl nie kennen. Am wahrscheinlichsten dürfte eine Kombination aus wirtschafts-, außen- und innenpolitischen Absichten sein. Viel wichtiger als seine Motive sind die faktischen Folgen seines Handelns als ‚Ermöglicher’ des deutschen Kolonialreichs. Der Kolonialhistoriker Horst Gründer beschreibt diesen Punkt prägnant: „[E]rst sein Entschluss stellt den definitiven Umschlagpunkt vom informell-indirekten Freihandelsexpansionismus seit den 1860er Jahren zum direkt-formellen Kolonialbesitz dar.“ Den Hamburger Kaufleuten ermöglichte er damit riesige Gewinne aus den Kolonialgebieten zu erbeuten. Sie haben große Vermögen mit ihren Geschäften eingestrichen, während auf Reichsebene die Kolonialpolitik ein reines Verlustgeschäft war. Und genau für diese Rolle haben sie sich an dem Bau des Denkmals an zentraler Stelle beteiligt. Sie saßen im Komitee, das den Entwurf für die Gestaltung des Denkmals ausgewählt hat, sie gehörten zu den Großspender:innen für den Bau des Denkmals und sie applaudierten bei der Enthüllung des Denkmals im Sommer 1906.
Ähnlich komplex und uneindeutig, wie die Rolle Bismarcks in der Kolonialpolitik, ist es auch, das Denkmal als ein Kolonialdenkmal zu verstehen. Es gibt keine eindeutige ikonische Kolonialbildsprache, wie bei anderen Denkmälern, in denen der weiße koloniale Blick auf die rassifizierten ‚Anderen‘ sofort zu erkennen ist. Mit einem klaren Blick auf Bismarcks Bedeutung für die deutsche Kolonialgeschichte, seine Beziehung zu den Hamburger Kaufleuten und deren Rolle für die Entstehung des Denkmals verändert sich dies aber sofort.

ENGLISH Version translated by Steve Nobles:

Otto von Bismarck, the “Iron Chancellor” who one the one hand became the “Father of the Nation” who brought Prussia to glory, and on the other hand was an “anti-democrat” who despised both the Parliament and the workers’ movement:

It is not entirely easy to clearly understand and categorize Bismarck from a historiographical perspective. This applies both to his importance to the founding of a German national state and to his role in German colonial history. As late as 1881, he stated clearly:
"As long as I am chancellor of the empire, we will not pursue a colonial policy.” (Voice Will) Yet in 1888 he confirmed that on his map, Africa was square in the middle of Europe, between Russia and France – by which he meant that his view of the African continent was oriented toward securing the empire’s hegemony in Europe.

What had changed? Within a few months in 1884 and 85 he had several territories on the African continent and in the South Pacific placed under so-called “protective rule”, thus enabling at a decisive moment the creation of the German colonies of Togo, Cameroon, German Southwest Africa and German New Guinea. In April of 1884, by telegram, he had the fraudulently acquired possessions of the Bremen merchant Adolf Lüderitz placed under the protection of the German Empire. Within a few months, the German colonial empire had come into being, and just 13 years after its founding, the German Empire was the world’s third-largest, after England and France. At about the same time, from November 1884 to February 1885, the “Africa Conference” took place in Berlin at Bismarck’s invitation. There, the European colonial powers met to create a framework in international law that would assure them the right to their territorial claims. Without taking any interest in the people who lived there or considering their interests in their deliberations. The borders of today’s states in Africa and the related problems and conflicts are a direct consequence of this conference in Berlin under Bismack’s leadership, and still persist. The role of Bismarck and the Berlin Africa Conference are not to be underestimated from a global historical perspective. Although he certainly played a rather selective and brief role in the long and complex European colonial expansion, the consequences of Bismarck’s actions were global in scale and with effects that continue to this day.

Much has been written about why Otto von Bismarck decided in the spring and summer of 1884 to give in to the long-standing demands of Bremen and Hamburg merchants and place their possessions under the protection of the empire. We will probably never know the exact motives. Most likely it was a combination of economic, foreign and domestic political aims. More important than his reasons, however, are the factual consequences of his actions as an ‘enabler’ of the German colonial empire.

Colonial historian Horst Gründer describes this point succinctly: "This decision represents the definitive turning point from informal/indirect, free-trade expansionism since the 1860s to direct/formal colonial ownership.” He thus enabled the Hamburg merchants to capture huge profits from the colonial territories. They amassed huge fortunes with their business, even while at the imperial level colonial policy was purely a losing proposition. And it was precisely for this role that Hamburg merchants participated in the construction of a monument in a prominent place. They served on the committee that selected the monument’s design; they were among the major donors to its construction; and they applauded when the monument was unveiled in the summer of 1906.

Just as Bismarck’s role in colonial policy is complex and ambiguous, it is similarly difficult to categorize the monument as a monument to colonialism. There is no clear iconic imagery, as with other monuments, in which the white colonial view of racialized “others” is immediately recognizable. However, when one takes a closer look at Bismarck’s importance to German colonial history, his relationship to the Hamburg merchants, and their role in the creation of the monument, everything changes immediately.

The process of decolonization requires knowledge, time and the will to change. We are living in a society facing new challenges, knowing about the past means to know about ourselves, about who we are, from where we come from, where we are living. We shape this society together and that’s why is so important to watch at history from many perspectives. A multidimensional perspective in this case of the figure of Bismarck allow us to open up our minds and thoughts to recognize other narratives and discourses.

We cannot change history but we can change the way we look at it.

I would like to talk briefly about the monument of Bismarck –And later on about him.

If you visit Hamburg you might see near the port a giant statue. What he’s wearing refers to a Germanic tradition of brave knighthood. He stands on a socle surrounded by eight figures who represent the Germanic tribes.
This is the largest of 240 memorials of Bismarck worldwide. It was build in 1906. It’s a 24 meters granite high monument.
Bismarck never saw this monument. He died in 1898 and it was built to honor him.
Thanks to a benefactor this statue could be built. Right now the city of Hamburg is renovating it for 9 million euros.

1. What is the role of Otto von Bismarck in the colonization of the African continent?
In 1884, the Congo Conference took place, also known as the West Africa Conference or Berlin Conference. It met at the invitation of the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the Reich Chancellor's Palace in Berlin. The representatives of 13 European states as well as the USA and the Ottoman Empire discussed the future course of action of these states on the African continent.
And no African was to be seen anywhere.

These countries as representation of power present laid down the criteria for the recognition of colonial property under international law. This triggered an unprecedented race for the as yet unoccupied areas of Africa. Within a few years Africa was then divided among the European powers. The merchants of Hamburg benefit of this carving up of Africa.

For a long time, the history of the colonies founded in the German Empire played a subordinate role in the collective memory. Even the cruel crackdown on the Herero and Nama in 1904-07 in German South West Africa - or the Maji Maji War in German East Africa, both of which amounted to genocide, was hardly present until a few years ago.

This brings me to the memories as I was in Tanzania and saw a former slave market place in Bagamoyo, which part of the construction is still existing. Men ran to the sea to carry yellow plastic canister of palm oil. They were men carrying them one in each hand and bringing them to the storage. The boat was an old wood boat coming from Zanzibar. This old path to bring palm oil from this island who was used by the colonizers and slave trade is still existing today and the same boat for bring these canisters aswell. These men got paid for each canister just a few cents.
The price of it in the world market is 550 dollars for 50 metric ton. You might not cook with it, but you almost certainly eat or use palm oil: lipsticks, pizza dough, detergents, instant noodle, shampoo, ice cream, margarine, chocolate, cookies, biodiesel, chocolate, package bread.
According to the World Wildlife Fund: Palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, found in many packaged products sold in the supermarket. While palm oil is the most efficient source of vegetable oil, its rapid expansion threatens some of the planet’s most important and sensitive habitats…

2. How to start a decolonization process around the statue of Bismarck in Hamburg?

In my point of view this decolonization process can only be possible if we listen to the narratives of those who were affected by this European colonization, specifically the voices and narratives from the German former colonies. This enables a necessary change of perspective, and this is very important to start a decolonizing process.

Therefore, the focus of BISMARCK DEKOLONIAL are the artistic narratives of people of some artists coming from the former German African colonies like Cameroon, Namibia, Tanzania, Togo and Ruanda. To wide out the view of this process of decolonization I invited aswell an artist from Mexico.

The central questions are: 3. What do they think coming from the former German colonies and seeing this huge monument of Bismarck?

4. What forms of artistic actions can decolonize Bismarck?

The first part of the project will take place today. In this LAB= FORUM the artists will present their ideas, and have a discussion about the topic

The second part will follow in the summer of 2021, when these artistic interventions will be presented live at the Bismarck monument in Hamburg.

On April 16th at 6 pm a LAB=FORUM Laboratory took place online via FACEBOOK. MORE INFOS UNDER NEWS