Gisenyi
| Gisenyi | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 1 ° 41 ′ S , 29 ° 16 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Rwanda | ||
| Western province | |||
| District | Rubavu | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | RW-04 | ||
| Residents | 84,000 (2005) | ||
Gisenyi is a city on Lake Kiwu in Rwanda with about 84,000 inhabitants (2005). It has a sandy beach that is known for water sports and a brewery . The place is on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo , opposite the Congolese city of Goma and like this at the foot of the Nyiragongo volcano .
history
Gisenyi was founded in 1901 or 1902 as a German military post on the border with the Belgian Congo . Initially housed in tents, the construction of permanent accommodation for the 11th Company of the Schutztruppe for German East Africa began . The place was on a traditional trade route on which slaves, ivory, tobacco products, copper articles and salt from the Congo for goats and cattle from Rwanda found their way. During the German colonial period there was a German customs post in Gisenyi and a few European trading companies established branches there.
In August 1914, at the beginning of the First World War , the commander-in-chief of the German troops in East Africa, Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck , withdrew the 11th company from Gisenyi to Tanzania and a local Rwandan military unit under German captain Max Wintgens held Gisenyi. In October 1914 the Belgians attacking Gisenyi, who were ten times superior, were initially able to be repulsed, but then conquered the town and burned the German military post. A German recapture of Gisenyi failed.
From 1976 Gisenyi was initially the formal seat of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes . During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda , the Rwandan Provisional Government was billeted in Gisenyi. Many refugees fled to the Congo via Gisenyi.
Until January 1, 2006, there was also a Gisenyi Province. Today Gisenyi belongs to the Rubavu district in the western province .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Innocent Kabagema: Rwanda under German colonial rule 1899-1916 , European Publishing House of Science, Frankfurt am Main 1993, pages 99-101, 148-149, 282-283