Hans Tappenbeck

Hans Tappenbeck with the rank of lieutenant, around 1888

Hans Tappenbeck (born January 14, 1861 in Wolsier , Westhavelland, † July 26, 1889 in Duala ) was a German officer and Africa explorer .

Life

Tappenbeck was born the son of a domain tenant and chief bailiff. He attended the Louisenstädtische Gymnasium in Berlin and the cadet school in Kulm and entered the 4th Westphalian Infantry Regiment No. 17 as a portepee ensign . In 1880 he received his officer's license .

Between 1884 and 1886 Tappenbeck was on research trips in the Congo area . In 1887 he was commissioned with Richard Kund to research the hinterland of Cameroon . His first advance took place in November 1887 via Bipindi to Nyong and across the Sanaga . The forcible storming of the Vute sub-center Wataré was of particular military importance .

On a second expedition, he and Kund founded the Yaounde station in the Ewondo area , from which the present-day capital of Cameroon, Yaoundé, emerged . It primarily served scientific research, the exploration of flora and fauna in the sense of an economic utilization, and as a basis for further geographic explorations. From here, Tappenbeck was the first European to advance to the residence of Ngrang Gomtsé in Ndumba , the most influential rule of the Vute at the time. With the founding of Yaounde, which - contrary to the instructions he had received from the Foreign Office - he pushed ahead to central Cameroon much further than planned, he was preparing the effective occupation of the hinterland, so to speak.

On the way back to the coast, Tappenbeck succumbed to malaria .

literature

• First advance into the interior of Greater Batanga . In: Messages from explorers and scholars from the German protected areas . Volume 1, 1888, pp. 2-6
• Report on the external course of the Batanga expedition (end of October 1887 to March 1888) . In: Messages from explorers and scholars from the German protected areas . Volume 1, 1888, pp. 6-22
• Last report from Lieutenant Tappenbeck . In: Messages from explorers and scholars from the German protected areas . Volume 2, 1889, pp. 114-119
• Lieutenant Tappenbeck's journey from Yaoundé Station over the Sannaga to Ngila's residence . In: Messages from explorers and scholars from the German protected areas . Volume 3, 1890, pp. 109-113
• Obituary for Lieutenant Tappenbeck . In: Messages from explorers and scholars from the German protected areas . Volume 2, 1889, pp. 67-69
• German Colonial Lexicon . Volume 3, Leipzig 1920, p. 459
• Viktor Hantzsch:  Tappenbeck, Hans . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 54, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1908, pp. 670-672.