Reichskolonialamt

The Reichskolonialamt (Imperial Colonial Office) was the German government agency whose task was to manage the German colonies. After the First World War, on 20 February 1919, the Reichskolonialministerium (Imperial Colonial Ministry) became the successor to the Reichskolonialamt. It dealt mainly with the settlement of the former colonies.

Development

Until 1890 the political department of the Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt)was responsible for German colonial policy. After that time there was a separate Colonial Department (Kolonialabteilung) which answered directly to the Chancellor of the Reich, although it continued to be housed in the Foreign Office. From 1896 the department also hosted the command of the colonial Protection Force or "Schutztruppe" (after 1897 called the Supreme Command of the Protection Force), which until that time had been housed in the Navy Office (Reichsmarineamt). The Reichskolonialamt itself was formed by decree on 17 May 1907. It was primarily an administrative change: The Colonial Department was largely unchanged by its conversion into an independent department.

The Reichskolonialamt reported directly to the Chancellor of the Reich. At the head of the organization stood a State Secretary and Under Secretary of State.

tate secretaries

* Bernhard Dernburg ( 1865 – 1937 ) May 1907 - 9 June 1910
* Friedrich von Lindequist (1862 - 1945) 10 June 1910 - 3 November 1911
* Wilhelm Heinrich Solf ( 1862 – 1936 ) 20th December 1911 - 13 December 1918
* Johannes Bell as Colonial Political Envoy in Versailles ( 1868 – 1949 ) 13 February 1919 - 20 June 1919

tructure

The Reichskolonialamt had four departments (Abteilungen):
* Department A dealt with general political and administrative matters
* Department B managed financial, transport and technical tasks
* Department C was concerned with personnel matters.
* The Supreme Command of the Colonial Protection Force acted as the fourth department.
* There was also the Kolonialhauptkasse which dealt with financial transactions

Initially the Kolonialrat acted as an advisory board, but 1908 this was replaced by a panel of independent experts. A Cultural Commission (Landeskundliche Kommission) for scientific, in particular geographical, tasks existed for a few years before the Office was dissolved. In 1911 a Permanent Economic Commission (Ständige Wirtschaftliche Kommission) was formed. Commissions were also formed in the German Agriculture Council (Deutscher Landwirtschaftsrat) and the German Agriculture Society (Deutsche Landwirtschaftsgesellschaft) specifically to advise the Reichskolonialamt. The authority was located at Wilhelmstrasse 62 in Berlin. The resulting acts of the Reichskolonialamt are held in the branch of the Federal Archives in Berlin-Lichterfelde.

Notes

1. ↑ Zeller, Joachim; Von der Heyden, Ulrich: Kolonialmetropole Berlin - eine Spurensuche Berlin-Edition 2002. Berlin-Edition 2002. S.31 P.31

External links

* [http://www.traditionsverband.de/magazin/rka.html "Kolonialabteilung, Reichskolonialamt und Reichskolonialministerium 1890-1920" von Arne Schöfert]
* [http://www.dhm.de/ausstellungen/namibia/stadtspaziergang/reichskolonialamt.htm Wilhelmstr. 62: Das Reichkolonialamt] (Afrika in Berlin - Stadtspaziergang des DHM)
* [http://www.ub.bildarchiv-dkg.uni-frankfurt.de/Bildprojekt/Lexikon/php/suche_db.php?suchname=Reichs-Kolonialamt Reichskolonialamt im Koloniallexikon]