Gustav Nachtigal

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Gustav Nachtigal
Consul-general for the German Empire
Known forGerman explorer of Africa

Gustav Nachtigal (German:

consul-general for Tunisia and Commissioner for West Africa. His mission as commissioner resulted in Togoland and Kamerun becoming the first colonies of a German colonial empire.[1] The Gustav-Nachtigal-Medal, awarded by the Berlin Geographical Society
, is named after him.

Life and travels

Gustav Nachtigal, the son of a

lung disease and relocated to Annaba in Algeria in October, 1862.[2] He travelled to Tunis in 1863, where he studied Arabic, and took part as surgeon in several expeditions into Central Africa[2] between 1869 and 1875.[2]

He returned to Germany and met

Borku, regions of the central Sahara not previously known to Europeans,[4] and reached the region of the Toubou people.[5] He travelled with eight camels and six men.[2]

From

Founder's Medal.[7]

After the establishment of a

Grand Bassam. In 1888 Nachtigal’s remains were exhumed and reburied in a ceremonial grave in Duala
in front of the Kamerun colonial government building.

Legacy

Monument to Gustav Nachtigal in Stendal, Germany

Along with Heinrich Barth, Nachtigal has been regarded as the other important German explorer of Africa.[2] Like Barth, Nachtigal was primarily interested in ethnography, and additionally in tropical medicine. His works stand out because of their wealth of details and because of his unbiased views of Africans. In contrast to most contemporary explorers, Nachtigal did not regard Africans as inferior to Europeans, as is reflected in his descriptions and choice of words.[5]

He had witnessed slave hunts performed by African rulers and the cruelties inflicted by them upon other Africans.[8] The horror that he felt about these atrocities made him enter colonial endeavours, because he believed that European domination of the African continent might stop slave-hunting and slave ownership.[5]

In 2022, "Nachtigalplatz" (Nachtigal Square) in Berlin was renamed "Manga-Bell-Platz", in honor of Duala king and resistance leader Rudolf Duala Manga Bell.[9][10]

Works

Original Publication

  • Saharâ und Sûdân. 2 volumes, Berlin 1879-81, volume 3 published by E. Groddeck, Leipzig 1889.[11]

English Translation

  • Sahara and Sudan. volume I: Fezzan and Tibesti; volume II: Kawar, Bornu, Kanem, Borku, Ennedi; volume III: The Chad Basin and Bagirmi; volume IV: Wadai and Darfur. Translated from the original German with an Introduction and Notes by Allan G. B. Fisher and H. J. Fisher. London — New York — Berkeley - 1971-1987.[6]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b "INITIAL PERIOD OF GERMAN SOUTH WEST AFRICA (SWA)". Retrieved 2009-05-16.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sahara and Sudan: The Results of Six Years Travel in Africa". World Digital Library. 1879–1889. Retrieved 2013-10-02.
  3. ^ Karl Wüllenweber: Gustav Nachtigal
  4. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911.
  5. ^ a b c "Gustav Nachtigal and the Explorations in Africa". SciHiBlog. 23 February 2023.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-900966-77-7
    .
  7. ^ "List of Past Gold Medal Winners" (PDF). Royal Geographical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  8. ^ Nachtigal, Gustav (April 1874). "Slave-hunts in Central Africa". Harper's Magazine.
  9. ^ "Berlin streets to be renamed after African heroes". African Courier. 16 April 2018.
  10. ^ "Berlin: A Square and a Street Now Carry Names of African Resistance Fighters". The Berlin Spectator. 2 December 2022.
  11. OL 17335507M
    .

Sources

External links

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