Asmara

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Asmara
Asmara (Eritrea)
Red pog.svg
Coordinates 15 ° 20 ′  N , 38 ° 56 ′  E Coordinates: 15 ° 20 ′  N , 38 ° 56 ′  E
Symbols
coat of arms
coat of arms
Basic data
Country Eritrea

province

Maekel
ISO 3166-2 ER-MA
height 2300 m
Residents 896,000 (2018)
Asmara (8351468351) .jpg

Asmara ([ asˈmaːra ], Tigrinya : ኣስመራ, Asmera , Arabic أسمرة) is the capital and by far the largest city of Eritrea .

geography

The city is located at an altitude of 2325 meters on the edge of the high plateau, which drops steeply from here to the geological depression formed by the spreading zone between the African and Arabian plates and in the deepest zone of which is the Red Sea .

Asmara is the largest city in the country with around 896,000 inhabitants (as of 2018).

history

Before the colonial era

Ras Alula , governor of the Medri Bahri Empire during the Negus Yohannes IV , was one of the pioneers of Asmara.

According to oral tradition, shepherds founded four villages in the area of ​​today's city in the 12th century, which regularly conflicted with one another. Their wives are said to have decided one day to come to an agreement and make peace. The name of the city is derived from this founding myth, earlier ኣርባተ ኣስመራ, Arbate Asmera , which means: "The four have united", which was later shortened to the current name. The modern part of the city, in which the historical core of the city was located, is still called Arbate Asmara.

Italian time

Cinema Impero
Fiat Tagliero petrol station

The Ethiopian general Ras Alula , who controlled the area of ​​Medri Bahri after the occupation by Ethiopia in 1879, was fighting against the Italian colonial troops in 1884 when he established a fortified residence on a hill of Asmara. With that he created the basis for the modern development of the city. In 1889, Asmara was occupied by Italy , which in 1900 instead of Massaua made it the capital of the Italian colony of Eritrea . In 1911 the Massaua – Biscia railway reached the city. It was later supplemented by the Massaua – Asmara road , further road connections to the hinterland, the railway line continued to Biscia and in 1937 the Massaua-Asmara cable car to the port of Massaua went into operation.

In Italian fascism , Asmara gained significant importance as the center of the Italian deployment area for the Italian-Ethiopian War (1935–1936) from 1932 at the latest and experienced rapid growth, especially through immigration from Italy; the population quintupled to almost 100,000 inhabitants, more than half of them Italians. The population growth was followed by a construction boom to cope with the new functions. The buildings that were subsequently erected from the mid-30s are often characterized by modern and high-quality architecture, which, however , was realized without any consideration for the local population and traditional structures and with partial introduction of racial segregation .

From this period, numerous buildings in the style of Razionalismo , the Italian version of classical modernism , are still preserved today . Asmara has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site as the “modernist city of Africa ??” since 2017 .

The Italian language is often still present in the city: the manhole covers bear the inscription Comune di Asmara - Fognature ("Municipality Asmara - sewage network"), bars and restaurants occasionally have Italian-language names such as Bar Vittoria , Roma , Cinema Impero or Pasticceria Moderna . Older people in particular speak Italian very well and there are many Italian forms of expression such as Andiamo! (“Let's go!”) Or E allora? ("So what?") Common.

British colonial times

On April 2, 1941, the British army occupied Asmara without a fight after the Italian army surrendered after the Battle of Keren . The British occupation pursued a rigorous dismantling policy from 1942 to 1952 , which they regarded as Italian war reparations , but which severely damaged the infrastructure of the country and the city.

Ethiopian occupation

Due to the federation with the Abyssinian Empire in 1952, Asmara lost its role as the country's capital. This sinking into the provinciality, the poverty of the country and the lack of investments due to the Eritrean War of Independence , which had spanned three decades since 1961, meant that the historical building fabric was largely preserved.

On May 24, 1991, the EPLF took Asmara as the last city in Eritrea.

Capital of Eritrea

With the independence of Eritrea in 1991, Asmara regained its function as capital. All of the country's central authorities have their headquarters here. Today, the size of the city has multiplied compared to the colonial times thanks to the construction of new offices and villas and the influx of people from the countryside.

climate

Asmara
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.
 
 
2
 
23
6th
 
 
2
 
24
7th
 
 
14th
 
25th
8th
 
 
33
 
26th
10
 
 
46
 
26th
11
 
 
42
 
26th
11
 
 
203
 
22nd
11
 
 
156
 
22nd
11
 
 
22nd
 
23
9
 
 
13
 
22nd
9
 
 
19th
 
22nd
7th
 
 
4th
 
22nd
6th
Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm
Source: wetterkontor.de
Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Asmara
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 22.6 23.9 25.3 25.8 25.8 25.8 21.7 22.0 23.2 22.0 21.6 21.6 O 23.4
Min. Temperature (° C) 5.6 6.6 8.4 9.8 10.9 11.1 11.4 11.4 9.3 8.6 7.4 6.0 O 8.9
Precipitation ( mm ) 2 2 14th 33 46 42 203 156 22nd 13 19th 4th Σ 556
Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 9.4 9.3 8.9 8.8 8.3 7.3 4.9 5.1 7.1 8.8 9.2 9.1 O 8th
Rainy days ( d ) 0 0 3 5 6th 6th 11 12 3 2 2 1 Σ 51
Humidity ( % ) 52 47 47 51 45 47 78 79 60 62 68 61 O 58.2
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
22.6
5.6
23.9
6.6
25.3
8.4
25.8
9.8
25.8
10.9
25.8
11.1
21.7
11.4
22.0
11.4
23.2
9.3
22.0
8.6
21.6
7.4
21.6
6.0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g 		2
2
14th
33
46
42
203
156
22nd
13
19th
4th
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source: wetterkontor.de

Due to its location in the cold tropics, the days are warm all year round and the nights are cool.

Attractions

Italian cemetery
Eritrean Orthodox Cathedral Nda Mariam
Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary

traffic

  • Asmara Airport : Asmara International Airport is four kilometers south of Asmara and is the only one in the country with international connections.
  • Rail: Asmara is now the end point of the country's only railway line that runs from Massaua here. The continuing line to Keren and Agordat had to cease operations at the beginning of 1975 due to the civil war and the continuing line to Biscia was already dismantled by the British colonial power as a reparation payment. The route to Asmara has been operating exclusively for tourists since 2001: on Sundays there is a train to Nefasit . In addition, trains can be chartered for the entire route.

Sports

In November 2011, the African Cycling Championships took place in Asmara .

Personalities

Sons and daughters:

literature

  • Peter Volgger and Stefan Graf: Architecture in Asmara. Colonial Origin and Postcolonial Experiences. DOM publishers, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-86922-487-9 .
  • Peter Volgger: The Asmara case. Fascist architecture rebranding in Africa? In: Thomas Spielbüchler, Markus Wurzer (Ed.): Africa - Approaches and Classifications: Africa Research in Austria. University of Linz 2017, pp. 25–49, urn : nbn: at: at-ubl: 3-151 .
  • Simone Bader: Modernism in Africa. Asmara: The Construction of an Italian Colonial City 1889–1941. Gebr. Mann Verlag, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-7861-2759-8 .
  • Stefan Boness: Asmara: Africa's Jewel of Modernity. Jovis, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86859-435-5 (photo book, German / English)
  • Edward Denison: Asmara: Africa's Secret Modernist City. Merrell Holberton, 2003, ISBN 1-85894-209-8 (photo book, English)
  • Christian Welzbacher: Conquering Africa with petrol stations. Surrender to building history: the Asmara exhibition in Berlin shies away from analysis. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . November 17, 2006.
  • Erminia Dell'Oro: Asmara addio. Baldini Castaldi Dalai, Milano 1997.

Web links

Commons : Asmara  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Asmara  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ CIA World Factbook : Eritrea, Section: People and Society (accessed July 9, 2018).
  2. ↑ Arbate Asmara: the origin of the city. | Retrieved January 13, 2019 .
  3. ^ Dan Connell, Tom Killion: Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. ( Historical Dictionaries of Africa, Volume 114) Scarecrow Press, Lanham / Maryland 2011, p. 96, sv "Asmara"
  4. ↑ Simone Bader: Fascist Modernism in Africa. Car and architecture in Asmara. In: Aram Mattioli , Gerald Steinacher : Building for Fascism: Architecture and Urban Development in Mussolini's Italy. Orell Füssli , Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-280-06115-2 , p. 353.
  5. ↑ Aram Mattioli: On the way to an imperial spatial planning in Italian East Africa. In: Aram Mattioli, Gerald Steinacher: Building for Fascism: Architecture and Urban Development in Mussolini's Italy. Zurich 2009, pp. 327–352; abridged version of the article in Die Zeit , February 26, 2009, No. 10, p. 86: Terror und Moderne. Mussolini's colonial city of Asmara in Eritrea is set to become a World Heritage Site because of its avant-garde architecture .
  6. ↑ Asmara: A Modernist City of Africa ??. German UNESCO Commission, July 27, 2017.
  7. ↑ See: Bocresion Haile Gebre Mussie: The Collusion on Eritrea . 2nd Edition. Asmara 2007; Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst: Eritrea on the Eve . London 1952.
  8. ↑ Ribka Sibhatu , poetrytranslation.org
  9. ↑ Ribka Sibhatu , encyclopediaofafroeuropeanstudies.eu