Decolonial Memories

In dieser Folge (deutsch) sprechen Dr. Christian Stachelbeck und Dr. Pierre Köckert über ihr Forschungsprojekt „Deutsches Militär im kolonialen Einsatz 1880-1918 – Ein Kontinuum der Gewalt“ am Bundeswehr-Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften. Begleittext hier.

Find complete English transcript of the conversation here.

Im Mittelpunkt des von 2024 bis 2028 laufenden Projekts steht die Untersuchung aller Formen von staatlicher Gewaltausübung in den ehemaligen deutschen Kolonien. Nach der Auftaktveranstaltung im Oktober 2025 behandelt der zweite Workshop (Mai 2026) das Thema „Militärische Einsatzpraxis im kolonialen Raum“. Den Abschluss der Serie bildet die Konferenz „Vom Kolonialkrieg zur postkolonialen Erinnerung – Transformationen kolonialer militärischer Gewalt seit 1918“ im Oktober 2026. Die Forschungsgruppe bittet um Vorschläge für schriftliche Beiträge zur Veranstaltung − insbesondere aus ehemaligen deutschen Kolonien − an: [email protected]. Über die Workshops hinaus dokumentiert die Forschungsgruppe ihre Arbeit in wissenschaftlichen Beiträgen, teilweise von externen Fachleuten erstellt, und Podcasts. Das Gespräch fand am 25.03.2026 in Potsdam statt.

In this episode, Flaubert Djateng, coordinator of the civil society organisation Zenu Network in Cameroon, talks about remembrance work on the German colonial era in his country. He is a member of a sub-committee of Cameroon's Restitution Committee that has prepared a national strategy yet to be approved by the Presidency. In Cameroon, he collaborates with Prof Albert Gouaffo ("Atlas of Absence"), Princesse Marilyn (Doual'art), Princesse Espérance (Esperanza Cade), Civil Peace Service (GIZ) and other civil society organisations. Flaubert Djateng hopes for closer cooperation with Germany in remembering the entangled history. The conversation took place on 10 March 2026 in Berlin.

In this episode, writer and poet Neema Komba from Tanzania talks about her current novel project about Nduna Mkomanile, a female leader of the Majimaji war of resistance against German colonial rule. She describes how the fate of her family and community who fell victim to German colonial violence in 1902 has motivated her for the subject. Neema Komba is the author of "Mektildis Kapinga: A silent hero" and "See Through the Complicated", a poetry collection. She is the 2022 recipient of the Miles Morland Foundation Writing Scholarship and the 2014 winner of the Etisalat Prize for Literature in the Flash Fiction category. Her story "Let them eat fruit cake" (published in Index on Censorship), was shortlisted for the 2019 Stack Awards for best original fiction. She is presently a doctoral student in entrepreneurship at Hanken School of Economics/Finland. The conversation took place on 7 March 2026 in Berlin.

Sirili Molelia and his son Tony talk about their efforts to bring their ancestors back to their home in Kibosho/Tanzania. Mangi Molelia and other Chagga leaders were murdered by German colonial troops on 2 March 1900, their remains transferred to Germany. On 17 February 2026, the Molelia family received custodianship of their ancestors from President Marion Ackermann, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. In this episdoe, the Molelias also address the search for their looted cultural belongings held by Ethnological Museum Berlin, Linden Museum Stuttgart and other German museums.

In this episode, Jean Berchmans Ndihokubwayo, a historian from Burundi, talks about the entangled history between his country and Germany, the former coloniser. Jean is an Assistant Professor at the National University of Burundi. He is presently finishing his doctoral thesis at the University of Gießen. The scholar emphasizes that Burundi has a long tradition of remembering German colonial rule. Now more efforts on the German side are needed to address historical injustices.

In this episode, Sylvie, founder-president of the Cameroonian cultural organisation Regartless, talks about her campaign #BringBackNgonnso in support of the people of Nso. Ngonnso is a deity embodied in a carved wooden statue adorned with cowrie shells held by Ethnological Museum Berlin as colonial loot. She was created in honour of Ngonnso, the founding mother of the Nso Fondom (Kingdom), in Cameroon. The Cammeroonian-German youth organisation Initiative Perspektivwechsel has created a comic novel about Sylvie.

In this episode, Dr. Bulami talks about his efforts to support the people of Nso (Northwest Cameroon) in reclaiming their cultural heritage. The Nso were victims of massive German colonial violence including the looting of cultural belongings and their transfer to Germany. Among them is Ngonnso, a deity embodied in a carved wooden statue that is adorned with cowrie shells. She was created in honour of Ngonnso, the founding mother of the Nso Fondom (Kingdom), who is regarded as the incarnation of the Nso people’ s worldview. Publications of Dr Bulami can be found here. Dr Bulami is a part-time Lecturer in the University of Bamenda (Cameroon) and the Principal of the Government Bilingual High School Kimbo in Kumbo.

In this episode, Dr Valence Silayo, Lecturer of Archeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam, talks about his research on the entangled history of Tanzania and Germany. He is presently a guest scholar at the Linden-Museum Stuttgart where he has co-curated the exhibition "Celebrating Womanhood" on cultural belongings of the Chagga community in the Kilimanjaro region held by the museum. Among many collaborative projects with Germany, he is involved in the restitution of knowledge to Tanzania with the Leipzig Missionary Society.

The guest of this episode is Bernard Laulian Ntahondi, an artist and expert of heritage studies in Tanzania. His work, to a considerable extent, focuses on the legacies of German colonialism in his country. He talks about memories practices in many parts of Tanzania, the role of the national Restitution Committee and collaborative efforts to address the entangled history between Germany and Tanzania.

In this episode, Imani Nsamila, an independent photographer and visual artist from Tanzania, talks about remembering German colonial rule in his country. He calls on civil societies in Tanzania and Germany to deepen collaboration on the entangled past, thus creating possibilities for a new relationship between the two countries. He particularly commends the twinning arrangement between Hamburg and Dar es Salaam for fostering intense people-to-people contacts.