Imperial Colonial Office

Imperial Colonial Office

Reichskolonialamt
Service flag of the Colonial Office
Agency overview
Formed	May 17, 1907 (1907-05-17)
Dissolved	February 20, 1919 (1919-02-20)
Superseding agency	Imperial Colonial Ministry
Jurisdiction	Reich Chancellery
Headquarters	Wilhelmstrasse 62 Berlin
Agency executive	Bernhard Dernburg (1907–1910) Friedrich von Lindequist (1910–1911) Wilhelm Solf (1911–1918), Secretaries of State

The Imperial Colonial Office or Reich Colonial Office (German: Reichskolonialamt) was a governmental agency of the German Empire tasked with managing Germany's overseas territories. Dissolved after World War I, on 20 February 1919 the Reich Colonial Ministry (Reichskolonialministerium) of the German Weimar Republic replaced the Imperial Colonial Office, dealing with settlements and closing-out of affairs of the occupied and lost colonies.

Development and reorganization

From its inception in 1884, a colonial service organization performed administrative functions (policy and management) for the executive arm of the imperial government. By order of Reich Chancellor

The newly established Reichskolonialamt led by Secretary of State Bernhard Dernburg reported directly to the head of government, the Reich Chancellor.

Heads of the Kolonialabteilung in the Foreign Office

• Friedrich Richard Krauel (1848–1918), in office 1 April 1890 – 30 June 1890
• Paul Kayser (1845–1898), in office 1 July 1890 – 14 October 1896
• Oswald von Richthofen (1847–1906), in office 15 October 1896 – 31 March 1898
• Gerhard von Buchka (1851–1935), in office 1 April 1898 – 12 June 1900
• Oscar Wilhelm Stübel (1846–1921), in office 12 June 1900 – 16 November 1905
• Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1863–1950), in office 16 November 1905 – 5 July 1906
• Bernhard Dernburg (1865–1937), in office 5 September 1906 – 16 May 1907

Reichskolonialamt secretaries of state

• Bernhard Dernburg (1865–1937), in office 17 May 1907 – 9 June 1910
• Friedrich von Lindequist (1862–1945), in office 10 June 1910 – 3 November 1911
• Wilhelm Solf (1862–1936), in office 20 December 1911 – 13 December 1918
• Paris Peace Conference
  from 13 February 1919 to 20 June 1919

Structure

The new Reichskolonialamt had three departments Abteilungen:

• Department A dealt with general political, policy and administrative functions
• Department B managed fiscal, transport and technical tasks
• Department C was concerned with personnel matters
• The subordinated Kolonialhauptkasse main cashiers bureau dealt with disbursements, payrolls and other financial transactions
• The headquarters command of the Schutztruppe was often seen as the quasi fourth department, with colonial governors nominally the superiors of troop commanders in the field

The Kolonialrat colonial advisory board was replaced in 1908 (after the major reorganizations of 1907) by a panel of independent experts. A Landeskundliche Kommission scientific and geographic commission for exploration functioned for several years before its mission was modified and replaced in 1911 by the Ständige Wirtschaftliche Kommission permanent economic commission. Further commissions were formed by the German Agriculture Council and tasked with advising the colonial office.

The records of the Reichskolonialamt and other documents from the colonies are now preserved at the branch location at Berlin-Lichterfelde of the German Federal Archives and were previously held at the Deutsches Zentralarchiv, Potsdam, an agency of the former East German regime.

See also

• List of German colonial ministers

References

Zeller, Joachim & von der Heyden, Ulrich. Kolonialmetropole Berlin - eine Spurensuche Colonial Metropolis Berlin - a Search for Traces. Berlin. 2002.

• Wolfgang Reith: "Die Kaiserlichen Schutztruppen", "Deutschlands Kolonialarmee 1889 - 1919, Windhoek 2017, ISBN 978-99916-909-6-4
• Wolfgang Reith: "Eine Frage der nationalen Ehre", "Nationalsozialistische Pläne für eine neue Deutsche Kolonialpolitik", Windhoek 2019, ISBN 978-99916-895-2-4

External links

• "Kolonialabteilung, Reichskolonialamt und Reichskolonialministerium 1890-1920" von Arne Schöfert
• Wilhelmstr. 62: Das Reichkolonialamt (Afrika in Berlin - Stadtspaziergang des
  DHM
  )
• Reichskolonialamt im Koloniallexikon