Colonial Council (German Empire)

Large meeting room of the Reich Colonial Office, meeting place of the Colonial Council

The Colonial Council was a body that existed from 1890 to 1907 and 1911 to 1913 and was assigned to the Reich Colonial Office of the Foreign Office of the German Empire as an expert advisory council for colonial affairs.

history

On the basis of an imperial decree of October 10, 1890 , Imperial Chancellor Caprivi issued the necessary implementing regulations for the Colonial Council on the same day. Its members should then be appointed by the Reich Chancellor.

As the interface between political and economic colonial interests, the colonial council was intended to assist the Reich Colonial Office. It was often referred to as a subsidiary parliament , which is why there were repeated debates about dissolving the council. The first colonial director Paul Kayser wanted to use the colonial council to counteract public opinion that the administration did not understand anything about the colonies.

The meetings of the Colonial Council took place in Berlin at the invitation of the Reich Chancellor, initially in the conference rooms of the Reichstag , and later in the large meeting room of the Reich Colonial Office . Twenty representatives attended the first meeting at the invitation of Chancellor Caprivi . When the Colonial Council was temporarily dissolved in 1907, the number of members doubled.

In the first sixteen years of its existence, a total of 75 meetings took place. 1911–1913 met twice a year.

The colonial societies equipped with an imperial letter of protection or operating in the protected areas through the establishment of economic undertakings of significant size could propose members for the colonial council from among their number; Otherwise, the members were appointed from among the experts at the discretion of the Reich Chancellor. The session for which the appointment was made was one year. The chairmanship was chaired by the head of the colonial department of the Foreign Office or by the officer of the colonial department who was appointed to represent him.

The Colonial Council had to give its opinion on all matters which were referred to it by the Colonial Department (Colonial Office). However, it was also able to pass resolutions on independent applications from its members. The colonial council elected a standing committee of three people from among its members, which the colonial department could ask about its opinion outside of the meetings of the general assembly. Members of the colonial department as well as representatives of other authorities could attend the meetings in an advisory capacity if the Reich Chancellor had given their approval.

The members of the Colonial Council performed their duties as honorary posts, but those outside of Germany received remuneration in line with their cash expenses.

The Colonial Council was of particular importance in the areas of railway construction , plantation management , shipping and missions .

Members of the Colonial Council

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Chairperson

Represented as head of the colonial department of the Foreign Office or the Reich Colonial Office as chairperson in the Colonial Council (in brackets: time of chairmanship):

1. 1890-1896: Paul Kayser
2. 1896–1898: Oswald von Richthofen
3. 1898–1900: Gerhard von Buchka
4. 1900–1905: Oscar Wilhelm Stübel
5. 1905–1906: Prince Ernst von Hohenlohe-Langenberg
6. 1906–1907: Bernhard Dernburg
7. ?
8. 1911–1913: Wilhelm Solf

Other members

As simple members:

• Theodor Ebert , geologist
• Adolph von Hansemann , banker, director of the Disconto-Gesellschaft
• Franz Hespers , Catholic cleric
• August Freiherr von der Heydt , art collector, partner in the banking house von der Heydt-Kersten & Sons
• Karl von Hofmann , politician
• Karl Rudolf Jacobi , Protestant representative, retired State Secretary of the Reich Treasury . D.
• Emil Kirdorf , representative of the Pan-German Association
• Reinhold Kraetke , State Secretary of the Reich Post Office, on the Colonial Council from 1891
• Eugen Langen , industrialist
• Johann Albrecht zu Mecklenburg , representative of the German Colonial Society
• Johannes von Miquel , representative of the German Colonial Association
• Wilhelm von Oechelhäuser , representative of Deutsche Bank
• Julius Scharlach , lawyer
• Karl Schmeißer , geologist
• Max Schoeller , sugar manufacturer and ethnologist
• Georg Schweinfurth , Africa explorer
• Paul Staudinger , Africa explorer
• Victor Valois , retired vice admiral
• Ernst Vohsen , publisher
• Adolph Woermann , shipowner

See also

• Colonial Authorities (German Empire)

literature

• Hartmut Pogge von Strandmann: The Colonial Council from: Zeller, Joachim; von der Heyde, Ulrich: Kolonialmetropole Berlin , Berlin-Ed., 2002.

Web links

Wikisource: Supreme ordinance regarding the establishment of a colonial council. October 10, 1890.  - Sources and full texts

Wikisource: Supreme decree, concerning the repeal of the colonial council and the formation of commissions at the Reichs-Kolonialamt  - sources and full texts

• Entry Colonial Council in the Colonial Lexicon

Individual evidence

1. ^ Reichsgesetzblatt , Volume 1890, No. 29, Page 179
2. ↑ Zentralblatt für das Deutsche Reich, p. 339 f.