- Gustav Adolf von Götzen
Infobox Person
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birth_date =12 May 1866
birth_place =Glatz ,Prussian Silesia
death_date =2 December 1910
death_place =Hamburg
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nationality = GermanCount Gustav Adolf von Götzen (12 May 1866 –2 December 1910 ) was a German explorer andGovernor ofGerman East Africa . He was the first European to set foot inRwanda , and later presided over the bloody quashing of theMaji Maji Rebellion in what is nowTanzania .Early life
Götzen studied law at the universities of Paris, Berlin and Kiel between 1884 and 1887. He then joined the army, and became (in 1887) a
Lieutenant in the 2nd Garde-Ulanen regiment. Between 1890 and 1891 he was stationed inRome and it was from there that he made his first African trip, in a hunting expedition toMount Kilimanjaro .In 1892, having been made an officer in the War academy, Götzen travelled to
Asia Minor with MajorWalther von Diest .The expedition of 1893/94
From 1885,
Karl Peters had begun claiming areas ofEast Africa for Germany. The Tanganyikan coast proved relatively easy, but conquest of the inland areas of the colony - right up to theBelgian Congo - was more difficult as large parts were still unexplored. For this reason, Götzen led an expedition to claim these hinterlands. He took with himGeorg von Prittwitz andHermann Kersting .The party set off from
Pangani , on the Tanganyikan coast, on21 December 1893 . After travelling throughMaasai areas, they eventually arrived, on2 May 1894 , atRusumo Falls on the Kagera river. By crossing the river, they became the first Europeans to set foot in Rwanda, at the time one of the most organised and centralised kingdoms in the region, but nominally already part of the German colony. They travelled right through Rwanda, meeting themwami (king) at his palace inNyanza , and eventually reachingLake Kivu , the western edge of the kingdom.After encountering and climbing some of the
Virunga Mountains , Götzen decided to continue west through the Congolese jungle. With great effort, they managed to reach theCongo river on21 September , which they then followed downstream, eventually reaching theAtlantic Ocean on29 November . In January 1895, Götzen returned to Germany.Turn of the century
Between 1896 and 1898 Götzen worked as an
attaché inWashington, D.C. and afterwards joined the general staff of the army in Berlin, where he was promoted in 1900 to the rank ofCaptain .Governorship and Maji Maji Rebellion
Due to his knowledge of local conditions, Götzen was appointed governor of German East Africa in March 1901, but soon had to deal with a huge crisis in the colony.
There had already been rebellions by the native population in the 1880s and 1890s, and in 1905 Götzen was faced with outbreak of the
Maji Maji Rebellion , which quickly took over about half of the colony. This was similar in severity to theHerero Wars taking place inGerman South-West Africa , but was noticed less by the German public. Götzen sent for reinforcements, and suppressed the rebellion by force. It is estimated that up to 300,000 Africans were killed, while the German side lost 15 Europeans and 389 African soldiers, according to official data compiled by Götzen.In 1906, Götzen gave up the governor's post due to ill health.
Later years
Götzen continued to be actively involved in furthering German colonial policy, in particular as a member of the German colonization and administration company for colonies. In 1908 he became the Prussian envoy in
Hamburg .He died on 2 December 1910 in Hamburg.
Legacy
The German passenger ship "Graf von Götzen" was named after Götzen and used as part of Germany's war effort on
Lake Tanganyika in World War I. She was scuttled in July 1916 off the mouth of theMalagarasi River to prevent her falling into the hands of the Belgian troops. In 1924 on instructions fromWinston Churchill , salvage operations by the "Royal Navy " succeeded in refloating the ship and in 1927 she returned to service as the "M.V. Liemba " and is still running today as a passenger cargo ferry.
He is the Grandfather of the Current Pretender to the Mexican Imperial ThroneMaximilian von Götzen-Itúrbide (b.1944), and Great-Grandfather of His Imperial and Royal Highness By Divine Providence and by the Congress of the Nation, Constitutional Prince, Count Don Maximilian von Götzen-Itúrbide|Fernando Götzen-Iturbide y Franceschi, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince of Belgium (b.1992)Writings by Götzen
*cite book
title=Durch Afrika von Ost nach West
author=Gustav Adolf von Götzen
year=1895
publisher=D. Reimer
isbn=
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lfETAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=Gustav+Adolf+von+G%C3%B6tzen&as_brr=1#PPR3,M1. Berlin (1895)
* "Deutsch-Ostafrika im Aufstand 1905/06". Berlin (1909)Further reading
*Reinhart Bindseil: "Ruanda im Lebensbild des Offiziers, Afrikaforschers und Kaiserlichen Gouverneurs Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen (1866–1910). Mit einem Abriss über die zeitgenössischen Forschungsreisenden Franz Stuhlmann, Oscar Baumann, Richard Kandt, Adolf Friedrich Herzog zu Mecklenburg und Hans Meyer". Berlin 1992. ISBN 3-496-00427-4
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