Rochus Schmidt

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rochus Schmidt

August Rochus Schmidt (born July 10, 1860 in Grasegrund, Bunzlau district , † August 7, 1938 in Berlin ) was a Prussian officer and colonial pioneer in German East Africa .

Life

Rochus Schmidt came from an old officer family on his mother's side. He grew up in his parents' house until 1869 before he was sent to an orphanage in Bunzlau . From 1875 to 1880 Schmidt attended the local high school and passed the Abitur . Schmidt joined the Prussian Army as an avantageur in 1880 and became second lieutenant in Field Artillery Regiment No. 5 in 1882 . In 1885 he joined the German East African Society . An expedition led by Schmidt initiated the colonization of the Usaramo landscape in the hinterland of Dar es Salaam . On October 28, 1885, he was seriously wounded in fighting in the Usagara region . After his recovery, Schmidt worked for the German Witu Society and founded several colonial stations in the Sultanate of Witu .

Grave of Rochus Schmidt at the Invalidenfriedhof Berlin (status 2013)

In November 1887 Schmidt was again employed as a lieutenant in the Prussian army. In 1888 he returned to German East Africa as a member of the so-called Wissmann Troop and participated in the suppression of the Arab or coastal uprising . He founded bases at Dar es Salaam, Mpapua, Saadani and Lindi . Schmidt was wounded again on several expeditions. A special undertaking was the escort for Emin Pascha and Henry Morton Stanley to the East African coast.

After the creation of the Schutztruppe , Schmidt became a company commander and, after Emil von Zelewski's death, he became the Oberführer of the Schutztruppe for German East Africa . In 1891 he was district captain of Bagamojo and military advisor to the governor, Julius von Soden . Due to disability and differences of opinion between Schmidt and von Soden, Schmidt resigned from the protection force in 1892 . For health reasons, Schmidt was unable to take up a promised position as Karl von Gravenreuth's successor in Cameroon . Instead, he continued his military career in Germany. In 1896 he became a captain , in 1905 a major , in 1914 a colonel and later a major general .

During the First World War , Schmidt took on an expedition to Syria and Palestine . The goal of the trip to prepare an attack on British East Africa and a connection to German East Africa could not be achieved. He was also a commander in the military police on the Eastern Front . After the First World War he lived in Berlin and at times in Bad Lauterberg in the Harz Mountains .

Rochus Schmidt was buried in the Invalidenfriedhof Berlin . His tombstone was restored after 1989.

Schmidt was the author of numerous colonial patriotic and revisionist texts.

Fonts (selection)

  • History of the Arab Uprising in East Africa. Frankfurt on the Oder: Trowitzsch, 1892.
  • Germany's colonial heroes and pioneers of culture in the black continent. 2 volumes, Braunschweig: Limbach, 1896.
  • Germany's colonies. 2 volumes, Berlin: Verlag des Verein der Bücherfreunde Schall & Grund, 1898. (Reprint by Weltbild Verlag. Augsburg 1998)
  • Hermann von Wissmann. Berlin: publishing house, 1906. (co-author)
  • From early colonial times. Berlin: Safari-Verlag, 1922.
  • Hermann von Wissmann and Germany's colonial work. Berlin-Grunewald: Klemm, 1925.

literature

Web links

Commons : Rochus Schmidt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt, Rochus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prussian colonial officer in German East Africa
DATE OF BIRTH July 10, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Grasegrund , Bunzlau district
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1938
Place of death Berlin