Battle of Hornkranz
![German war memorial in the Zoo Park in Windhoek with the inscription: [1] "In memory of the heroes who died in the war against the Witbooi's tribe in 1893 and 94"](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Kriegerdenkmal_Zoo-Park_Windhoek.jpg)
German war memorial in the Zoo Park in Windhoek with the inscription: "In memory of the heroes who died in the war against the Witbooi's tribe in 1893 and 94"
| date | April 12, 1893 |
|---|---|
| place | Horn wreath |
| output | tactical victory of the Germans |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| maximum 300-400 armed men (rough estimate) | 111 German soldiers, 50 allied basters |
| losses | |
|
about 80 dead (about 50 men and 30 women), |
2 dead, |
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The battle of Hornkranz on April 12, 1893 was an attack by German soldiers and African allies under the command of Curt von François on the Witbooi - Kraal Hornkranz in what was then German South West Africa . Hornkranz was the seat of Captain Hendrik Witbooi , who refused to recognize German colonial rule over his sphere of influence. The death of around 80 African civilians, including women and presumably children, made the battle known internationally as the Hornkranz massacre .
background
Based on the so-called Lüderitzland , the colony of German South West Africa emerged at the end of the 19th century . Initially it was to be administered by the German Colonial Society for South West Africa . However, society was overwhelmed financially and personally to take possession of such an extensive territory. Therefore the establishment of colonial armed forces began , from which a few years later the imperial "protection force" emerged . Curt von François became their first commander. The German military, which initially comprised only a dozen volunteers - later a few hundred soldiers - increasingly intervened in the conflicts between African ethnic groups. Some ethnic groups , such as the Herero , initially recognized German colonial rule. Among other things, they hoped that the Germans would protect them from regional adversaries.
The Witbooi were an Orlam group that immigrated from South Africa in the first half of the 19th century . Its leader, Captain Hendrik Witbooi, saw independence from the Germans at risk earlier than others. Believing in a divine mission, he tried to bring about an unification movement against the Germans. However, such an alliance did not initially materialize. Relations between the cultural groups were overlaid by traditional pre-colonial hostilities.
In March 1893 reinforcements arrived from Germany. Von François now saw the possibility of enforcing the claimed sovereignty by force and preventing solidarity among Africans.
course
On the morning of April 12, 1893, over 150 German soldiers and African allies surprised the Witbooi at Hornkranz, Hendrik Witboois' private residence west of Rehoboth . The Witbooi resisted for almost a morning. They holed up in the half-finished church of the small town. Hendrik Witbooi finally managed to break out with the surviving fighters. The women and children of the settlement stayed behind.
Even contemporary colonial-friendly authors did not deny that the attack resulted in numerous civilian casualties and wounded, but these were added to the accompanying damage . This is how the German colonial officer Rochus Schmidt judged :
“On April 12, 1893, the fortunes of this festival [Hornkranz] were happily stormed, with the Witboi people dead 50 men and 30 women (the latter were housed in the fortress and were naturally affected during the bombardment), about wounded 100 people of both sexes lost, while the losses on the German side were only two dead and two wounded. "
There are indications that the German soldiers not only shot at gunmen, but also at men, women, children and animals. The settlement was completely devastated. 40 women and children were captured and brought to Windhoek with cattle and weapons . On the German side, the riders Bartsch and Sakalowsky were killed in the attack.
consequences
Hendrik Witbooi withdrew with 800 companions into the inaccessible Naukluft Mountains and fought a stubborn guerrilla war with German settlers and soldiers for months . He denied allegations that he was killing defenseless people with reference to the killed residents of Hornkranz. Only when the overwhelming power and encirclement of the colonial troops, reinforced by artillery , became overwhelming, did he give himself up for the time being in September 1894. Ten years later, Witbooi rose again in the course of the Herero uprising .
Curt von François was criticized for having triggered an avoidable colonial war with his offensive. Von François' actions violated the general order of the Berlin Foreign Office not to engage in acts of war, but only to take action against individuals. The Hornkranz massacre preoccupied the international press in the following months, although the extent of the resistance and the exact number of victims were not conclusively clarified.
During the battle, Hendrik Witbooi's personal notes and correspondence fell into German hands, including some of Hendrik Witbooi's journals . They allowed insights into his political calculations and are today testimony to early anti-colonialism .
Since 2018 there has been a proposal to make April 12 a national holiday .
In March 2019, Theresia Bauer , Minister for Science, Research and Art of Baden-Württemberg , together with Ida Hoffmann , Chairwoman of the Nama Genocide Technical Committee , visited Hornkranz. They held out the prospect of further visits and memorial events at the place.
See also
literature
- Karl Dove : Hoornkrans , in Heinrich Schnee (Hrsg.): Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon . Vol. 2, Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer 1920, p. 76.
- Bernd G. Längin : The German Colonies - Scenes and Fates 1884-1918 . Mittler, Hamburg / Berlin / Bonn 2005, ISBN 3-8132-0854-0 .
- Jürgen Petschull : The madness of the world empire. Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg 1986, ISBN 3-88199-315-0 .
- Rochus Schmidt : Germany's colonies . Volume 2, Verlag des Verein der Bücherfreunde Schall & Grund, Berlin approx. 1898. (Reprint by Weltbild Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-8289-0301-0 .)
Web links
- Horn wreath after the attack, contemporary drawing
- Photo of a memorial stone of the battle in the Hornkranz cemetery
- Tidy up, hang up, bang down ... in: Der Spiegel , 13/1985.
Individual evidence
- ^ Photograph by Walther Dobbertin
- ↑ a b c d e Jörg Schildknecht: Bismarck, South West Africa and the Congo Conference - The international legal bases of the effective occupation and its secondary obligations using the example of the acquisition of the first German colony. LIT-Verlag, Hamburg 2000, p. 244ff.
- ↑ a b c d Bernd G. Längin: The German colonies. P. 121.
- ↑ a b Werner Hillebrecht: Hendrik Witbooi - Icon and Inspiration of Anti-Colonial Resistance and Independent Namibia, in: Larissa Förster, Dag Henrichsen, Michael Bollig (eds.): Namibia-Germany. A shared story . Edition Minerva, Wolfratshausen 2004, ISBN 3-932353-86-2 , pp. 144ff.
- ↑ Jürgen Petschull : The madness of the world empire. P. 82.
- ↑ Hornkranz massacre remembered 126 years later. Namibia Press Agency, April 14, 2019.
- ↑ TO ENIGMATIC RETURN TO HORNKRANZ. Namibia Press Agency , March 10, 2019.
Coordinates: 23 ° 31 ' S , 16 ° 27' E