Wilhelm Langheld
Wilhelm Langheld (born May 25, 1867 in Berlin , † July 9, 1917 in the Kutczany field hospital , Galicia ) was a German officer and representative of the colonial administration in East Africa and Cameroon .
Military career
Langheld joined the Field Artillery Regiment No. 12 as an ensign in 1885, became a lieutenant in 1886 and retired from the Prussian army in 1889 to join the Wissmann troop in German East Africa . On April 1, 1891, he was employed in the newly founded Imperial Protection Force for German East Africa. In 1893 he was promoted to prime lieutenant, in 1896 to captain and in 1900 he was transferred to Cameroon, where he had been deputy commander of the Schutztruppe since 1905. In 1901 he became a surplus major. In 1908 he received his retirement with the statutory pension and permission to wear the previous uniform. After retiring from active service, Langheld worked temporarily for AEG . He was reactivated in World War I and last served in Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 133.
German East Africa
As a member of the Wissmann troop and officer of the protection force for German East Africa, Langheld took part in the military measures for the occupation of the East African coastal area and in the " Emin Pascha Expedition". From February 1891 to April 1892 he was station chief of Bukoba , 1894 to November 1895 of Muansa , then to 1898 of Tabora . In 1893 he led an expedition of the "Anti-Slavery Committee" to Lake Victoria .
Cameroon
In April 1900 he was transferred to the Cameroon Defense Forces, but from June 1900 to January 1901 he was initially assigned to serve at the High Command of the Protection Forces in Berlin. After arriving in Cameroon, he took part in a military expedition against the Ngolo in western Cameroon and then on a mission for the commander to inspect the Bulu area in the south of the country. During Commander Curt Pavel's trip to Chad in 1902, he took over the business of the command of the protection force in Duala . From October 1902 to February 1903 he stayed in Germany for health reasons. In March 1903 he returned to Cameroon, was temporarily company commander in Duala and at the beginning of July 1903 was assigned to the civil administration and used as a provisional district administrator in Edea .
In 1904 Langheld was made a resident in Kusseri ( German Tschadseeländer ). After the death of Captain Gaston Thierry , he temporarily took over the business of Residentur Adamaua in Garua and was thus responsible for a district that encompassed the present-day provinces of North , Extreme-North and parts of Adamaoua . After a coup in Kalfu , in which Ardo Buuba, who was enthroned by the protection force in the course of the occupation of the country, was killed, Langheld intervened in favor of German interests and banished the former Ardo Hamman Lawan, who had revived power, to the coast . In November 1904 he made a tour of the Mandara Mountains and northern Adamauas, which yielded valuable insights into the ethnography and geography of the mountainous region. From April 1905 he was mainly used in the staff in Soppo . In February 1908 he finally returned to Europe.
Rating
Langheld was one of the longest serving officers in the German colonies. Due to his consideration for the indigenous structures, he enjoyed a special position of trust among the population of the districts he administrated. His memories “Twenty Years in German Colonies” (Berlin 1909) are a valuable source of information on the history of indigenous societies before and during the German colonial era.
Works
- Twenty years in German colonies , Berlin 1909
- The heroes of Africa , Berlin 1912
literature
- Florian Hoffmann: Occupation and military administration in Cameroon. Establishment and institutionalization of the colonial monopoly of violence 1891–1914 , Göttingen 2007
Web links
- Literature by and about Wilhelm Langheld in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Langheld, Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German officer and colonial administrator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 25, 1867 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 9, 1917 |
| Place of death | Kutczany , Galicia |