Afro-Germans: Difference between revisions

Blacks in Germany
Regions with significant populations
	Berlin, Hamburg
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	African languages, German

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Afro-Germans (German: Afrodeutsche),^[2] African-Germans or Black Germans are defined as the Black African community and diaspora in Germany. While it is the largest Black African diaspora in Central Europe,^{[citation needed]} the black communities in the United Kingdom and France are on average ten times larger.^{[citation needed]}

Historic backgrounds vary; so does allocation: in particular, cities like Hamburg and Berlin have substantial grown Black communities, with a high percentage of ethnically mixed families;^{[citation needed]} modern traffic and trade is further changing the communities in additional areas like Frankfurt, Munich or Cologne.

History

Africans have been known to the German peoples since the pre-Christian times of the Roman Empire.

Holy Roman Empire

In 926 the Nubian Saint Maurice became a patron saint of the Holy Roman Emperors and has been honored in various sculptures and graphics throughout Germany: City of Coburg's Coats of Arms or a sculpture in Magdeburg.

African and German interaction since 1600

The first German salesmen, missionaries and travelers came to Africa around 1600. The first Africans that they brought back home worked as aids for households or businesses. Most were living in situations comparable to their German-born work mates. Ghana-born Anton Wilhelm Amo became the first African to attend a European university during the 1720s and taught and wrote in philosophy - sponsored by a German duke.

Africans and German interaction between 1884 and 1945

At the 1884 Berlin Congo conference, attended by all major powers of the day, Africa was divided under European powers. The creation of the African German colonies set the stage for a larger number of Africans to enter Germany for the first time. The running of the German colonies demanded indigenous specialists for the colonial administration and economy, and many young Africans came to Germany to be educated. Some of them received higher education at German schools and universities, but the majority were trained at mission training and colonial training centers as officers or domestic mission teachers. Africans were frequently used as interpreters for African languages at German-Africa research centers, or came to Germany as former members of the German protection troops, the Askari.

Many of these Africans who came as young men or youth to Germany remained for the duration of their adult lives, establishing families and careers.

Rhineland Bastards

see Rhineland Bastards for main article

During the tempestuous years following World War I, the French Army occupied the Rhineland, utilising African soldiers amongst their forces. Their children were known as "Rhineland Bastards". As their name suggests, they were subject to much discrimination and degradation. However, some, like Hans Hauck, were accepted as members of the Hitler Youth.^{[citation needed]}

Brown Babies

During the decade of 1945 and 1955, over 67,000 children were born to women and soldiers occupying the Federal Republic of Germany. Almost 5,000 of these children were fathered by African and Moroccan fathers. These children were called "brown babies," and became symbolic of the racial struggle in Germany. German social workers attested to how well the black soldiers treated their German girlfriends and children, but interracial marriage was prohibited and interracial relationships were intensely looked down upon. Their fathers usually ended up being sent away, so these brown babies ended up being raised in a completely white society. These children were regularly discriminated against and many ended up being adopted by black Americans, which some thought was a solution to the issue. Not much is known about how these adopted children lives played out in America.

The brown babies were a danger to the nationalistic Germans. They saw their mixed race as a threat to German nationality and German society; it could potentially dilute the race. These children were also discriminated against because their different features and skin tone made many think they could not be fully German, and therefore must have been foreigners. This led to frustration from the Afro Germans because they had been born and raised in Germany, but were constantly being exposed to xenophobia. ^[3]

Weimar Republic

Map of Africa in 1910 with regions colonized by Germany shown in yellow.

After Germany's defeat in World War I, the British and French took control of the African colonies. The situation for the Africans which had been living under German control in Africa changed in various ways. For example, these Africans had possessed a colonial German identification card, and this became a status which allowed for treatment as "members of the former protectorates". After the Treaty of Versailles, the Africans were encouraged to become citizens of their respective mandate countries, but most preferred to stay where they were. In numerous petitions (above all for Togo in P. Sebald and Cameroon in A. Rüger well documented) they also tried to inform the German public about the conditions in the colonies and continued to request German help and support.

To the numerous political activities of Africans belonged the foundation of a bilingual periodical that should appear in German and Duala and carried the title 'Elolombe ya Cameroon' (Sun of Cameroon). A political group of Africans established the German branch of a Paris-based human rights organization: "the German section of the League to the Defense of the Negro Race".

Many of the Africans encountered the Great Depression in Germany with no claim for unemployment compensation as this was tied to German citizenship.^{[citation needed]} Some Africans were however supported through a small budget from the German Foreign Office.^{[citation needed]}

Nazi Germany

The conditions for Africans in Germany grew worse during the National Socialistic dictatorship. Naturalized Afro-Germans lost their passports. Working conditions and travel were made extremely difficult for Black musicians, variety, circus or film professionals.

Based on a racist propaganda, it was impossible even for willing employers to retain black employees. To become invisible with the evident visibility and compulsion had become less a life condition than an act of balance.

The Nazis speculated about the possibility of winning the support of Africans from former German colonies for a pro-German colonial propaganda, as the Nazis were planning an "African colonial empire under German predominance".^{[citation needed]} The legislation for a planned,apartheid-like system already existed in design in 1940, including laws for slaves and an African passport design.^{[citation needed]} Nazi Germany never approached the realization of its colonial dreams.

Aside from being socially isolated, some Africans in Germany were subject to compulsory sterilization or rendition to concentration camps.^{[citation needed]}

For more information see Rhineland Bastard

For the biography of a black African in Germany under Nazi rule see also Hans Massaquoi's Destined to Witness.

Afro-Germans in Germany since 1945

The end of World War II brought Allied occupation forces onto German soil of which numerous soldiers were of African American, Afro-Caribbean or African descent. Until recently, there have been more than 100,000 U.S. soldiers stationed on German soil. These men established their lives in Germany and either brought families with them or founded new ones with German wives and children.

From the late 1980s and onwards, Germany experienced large numbers of political asylum seekers and immigrants from African states.

For more information see Immigration to Germany.

Black Africans in modern Germany

Politics and social life

Hans Massaquoi Journalist, has written about his childhood in Nazi Germany.

Art, culture, and music

The cultural life of Afro-Germans has multifarious aspects and strive in its variety and complexity. With the emerge of MTV and Viva an increased globalized "ethnicifiation" of mainly American pop culture further promoted Afro-German representation in German media and culture.

The May Ayim Award - the first international black German literature prize premiered black German culture into the realm of major German high culture institutions like Haus der Kulturen der Welt. The award sculpture, Black Germania, was designed by Stephen Lawson. The award was initiated by Michael Küppers-Adebisi from cyberNomads, the largest black German databank, network and media channel. Entries from four continents made it a pan-African award for the international black diaspora. The event took place under the aegis of the German UNESCO and Linton Kwesi Johnson. The gala event presenting the winners was moderated by Adetoun Küppers-Adebisi in German, English, and Yoruba.

Black African rap musicians in Germany include:

RnB and Soul singers:

Rock musicians

Joachim Deutschland

Film

The SFD - Schwarze Filmschaffende in Deutschland (Black Artists in German Film, literally Black Filmmakers in Germany) is a professional association based in Berlin for directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors who are Afro-Germans or of African origin and living in Germany.

Sport

References

^ Smith, David G. (2008-06-05). "German Newspaper Slammed for Racist Cover". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
^ Wolf, Joerg (2007-02-23). "Black History Month in Germany". Atlantic Review. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
^ "'Germany's 'Brown Babies' Must Be Helped! Will You?'U.S. Adoption Plans for Afro-German Children, 1950-1955"

External links

[1] Smith, David G. (2008-06-05). "German Newspaper Slammed for Racist Cover". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 2008-06-18.

[BHM-2] Wolf, Joerg (2007-02-23). "Black History Month in Germany". Atlantic Review. Retrieved 2009-10-20.

[3] "'Germany's 'Brown Babies' Must Be Helped! Will You?'U.S. Adoption Plans for Afro-German Children, 1950-1955"

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 '''Afro-Germans''' ({{lang-de|Afrodeutsche}}),<ref name="BHM">{{cite news|url=http://atlanticreview.org/archives/592-Black-History-Month-in-Germany.html|title=Black History Month in Germany|last=Wolf|first=Joerg|date=2007-02-23|work=Atlantic Review|accessdate=2009-10-20}}</ref> '''African-Germans''' or '''Black Germans''' are defined as the [[Black African]] community and [[diaspora]] in [[Germany]]. While it is the largest Black African diaspora in Central Europe,{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} the black communities in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[France]] are on average ten times larger.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}
-Historic backgrounds vary; so does allocation: in particular, cities like [[Hamburg]] and [[Berlin]] have substantial grown Black communities, with a high percentage of ethnically mixed families;{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} modern traffic and trade is further changing the communities in additional areas like [[Frankfurt]] or [[Cologne]].
+Historic backgrounds vary; so does allocation: in particular, cities like [[Hamburg]] and [[Berlin]] have substantial grown Black communities, with a high percentage of ethnically mixed families;{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} modern traffic and trade is further changing the communities in additional areas like [[Frankfurt]], [[Munich]] or [[Cologne]].
 ==History==