Tanzania Park
.1.ajb.jpg)
The Tanzania Park is the unofficial name of a monument in Hamburg-Jenfeld that presents memorials and sculptures from German colonial history . This was created in 2003 by the privately initiated Jenfeld cultural group on the site of the former Lettow-Vorbeck barracks . The content of this property is related to Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck , who gave the armed forces site its name, which was closed in 1999 , and commander of the protection force for German East Africa , today's Tanzania , during the First World War . Since there are already numerous military and colonial symbols on the site and on the building facades, including ceramic relief portraits of the military Hermann von Wissmann , Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and Lothar von Trotha , further monuments of German and especially Hamburg colonial history, some of which are stored , be placed in this location.
In July 2014, the Hamburg Senate decided to launch a program to “come to terms with the colonial heritage”, with which the site is to be set up as a memorial site under the title of Germany-Tanzania History Garden.
Colonial monuments
The central part of the park is the Schutztruppen memorial from the time of National Socialism , which was inaugurated in August 1939 by Lettow-Vorbeck and leading National Socialists in memory of the German colonial troops. It consists of a high pillar with a laurel wreath that frames an iron cross and on which an imperial eagle sits. Four memorial plaques on the surrounding brick wall commemorate those who fell in the colonies in World War I, 1155 German soldiers and 8965 African askari and auxiliary warriors are mentioned who "gave their lives for their fatherland". In addition, another memorial plaque was installed in 1965 to commemorate the National Socialist Africa Corps of the Wehrmacht .
Two so-called Askari reliefs were set up again in 2003 . These are the two parts of the former German East Africa war memorial by the sculptor and adjutant of Lettow-Vorbeck Walter von Ruckteschell , which were attached to both sides of the main entrance of the barracks and were also inaugurated in 1939. The larger-than-life groups of figures made of terracotta represent on one part, formerly to the right of the entrance, a Schutztruppe officer followed by four Askari and on the opposite an Askari followed by four porters. The monuments are considered part of the moral mobilization for the Second World War , the Pictures were to serve as models for young Wehrmacht soldiers .
The initiators of the park, the Kulturkreis Jenfeld , stated that they wanted to make a contribution to coming to terms with the German-African past with the Tanzania Park. The park should contribute to understanding between the countries and encourage cultural exchange. The building authorities paid for the restoration of monuments and the design of the park. The system was to be supplemented by the Tanzania pavilion at the Expo 2000 in Hanover . At times, the erection of the controversial Wissmann monument , which is stored in the cellar of the Bergedorf observatory, was also discussed .
The non-opening of the park
The inauguration of the park was planned for September 2003 with the participation of a government member from Tanzania. But Tanzania's then President Frederick Sumaye joined the international criticism and withdrew support for the project. An official inauguration and therefore no official naming took place until today. The site is not open to the public.
criticism
Since the beginning of the planning, a controversy has flared up in the public and the media about the Tanzania Park . Critics see in the uncommented listing of the monuments a colonial revisionist hero worship and the uncritical and trivializing presentation of Nazi legacies. There were several demonstrations and protests on the site. In 2003 it was renamed Mohammed Hussein Bayume Park after the former Askari Bayume Mohamed Husen, murdered in Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1944, “in memory of the victims of colonial exploitation and racist violence”.
Since 2005, an advisory board from the Wandsbek district , with the participation of the district parliamentary groups, Hamburg authorities, the Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg , the Helmut Schmidt University and the One World Network Hamburg has been developing a new concept for the park. Agreement was reached that the monuments and other buildings of the barracks area should be placed in their historical context by means of text and picture boards and that the representation of German colonial rule in Africa should take a central position.
literature
- Bartholomäus Grill: A German Hell . In: Die Zeit , No. 27/2005
Web links
- Tanzania Park . Homepage project afrika-hamburg.de
- Jokinen: Unsightly Neighborhoods , article from. (PDF; 2.4 MB) March 3, 2011
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joachim Zeller: Monuments for Colonialism. Colonial monuments in Hamburg . In: Heiko Möhle: Brandy, Bibles and Bananas. German colonialism in Africa. A search for clues . Hamburg 2011, p. 133
- ↑ Heiko Möhle: The Prussians of Africa. Lettow-Vorbeck and the maintenance of colonial traditions . In: Heiko Möhle: Brandy, Bibles and Bananas. German colonialism in Africa. A search for clues . Hamburg 2011, p. 133
- ↑ Stefanie Michels: The Askari , in: Jürgen Zimmerer: No place in the sun: places of remembrance of German colonial history . Frankfurt am Main 2013, p. 295
- ^ A Tanzania park for Jenfeld . In: Hamburger Abendblatt , May 21, 2002; Retrieved April 22, 2011
- ↑ Heiko Möhle: “Tanzania Park” or a postcolonial place of remembrance? In: Hamburg and colonialism. Colonial traces and commemorative culture in the self-image of the trading city . ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 2.5 MB) p. 39; Retrieved April 22, 2011
- ↑ Jenfeld's most secret park . ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Hamburger Wochenblatt . April 30, 2013; accessed on January 7, 2015.
- ↑ The so-called Tanzania Park - A tour. Retrieved July 20, 2012
- ↑ protests . Afrika-Hamburg.de; Retrieved March 3, 2015
- ↑ Heiko Möhle: “Tanzania Park” or a postcolonial place of remembrance? P. 41
Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 1 ″ N , 10 ° 8 ′ 2 ″ E