German colonialism: Why hasn't there been a reckoning?

Gaob D. Timotheus Frederick was sitting in the front row of the visitors' gallery in the Bundestag this week. Wearing a suit and hat, he had traveled all the way from Namibia to see this parliamentary debate unfold. For almost 120 years, his family had been waiting for the return of human remains of their ancestor, Cornelius Frederick (sometimes spelled Fredericks), who had led the Nama resistance against German colonial rule and died on Shark Island in Germany's first concentration camp.

In the name of his great-grandfather and as a member of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA), Gaob D. Timotheus Frederick was there to demand an "unconditioned apology" from Germany.

Sitting next to him, in uniform and white gloves, with a carved lion on the handle of his walking stick, was the head of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority: Paramount Chief Mutjinde Katjiua. Speaking before the Bundestag debate, the chief said, "We call upon the Bundestag to recognize unequivocally the genocides committed against the Ovaherero and Nama peoples."

Many people wonder why the German parliament hasn't already done this, or why the German government is yet to issue an official apology. There is a draft joint declaration with Namibia in which the German government acknowledges that "from today's perspective, [it] would be called genocide." But there is no German-Namibian reconciliation agreement.

The evidence is overwhelming: From 1904 to 1908, the German Empire waged a war of extermination against the indigenous people of southwestern Africa, including the Ovaherero (also known as the Herero), the Nama, the Damara, and the San. At least 100,000 people were killed, and just as many displaced. Many were subjected to forced labor and forced prostitution. The land seizures and expropriation carried out at the time continue to affect their descendants today.

According to historian Jürgen Zimmerer of Hamburg University, the Bundestag and German government lack the will to confront this episode in German history. "There are Bundestag resolutions on the Armenian genocide, one on the Holodomor [in Ukraine], and one on the genocide against the Yazidis [by the "Islamic State" in Iraq]. But there is no recognition of the genocide against the Herero and Nama by the German Bundestag." If there were any political will to do so, it could happen very quickly, Zimmerer told DW.

German government prefers reconstruction to reparation

The socialist Left Party instigated the debate in the parliament by drafting a resolution calling for full recognition and compensation in collaboration with representatives of the descendants. The goal: "Restorative justice." Paramount Chief Katjiua has rejected the existing agreement between the Namibian and German governments. "Development aid cannot substitute for comprehensive reparations," he said.

Since 2021, Windhoek and Berlin have been negotiating a joint declaration that pledges €1.1 billion ($1.24 billion) in reconstruction aid to Namibia over 30 years. Once the agreement is signed, the German head of state is also set to issue a formal apology.

But the Foreign Ministry also warned: "Legal claims to compensation cannot be derived from the recognition of genocide. With these negotiations — which are unique worldwide — Namibia and Germany have broken new ground and are pioneers in confronting their colonial past."

Political scientist Andreas Mehler, director of the Anton Bergstraesser Institute, sees it differently. He says the government's plan sounds like "checkbook diplomacy."

According to Zimmerer, there is also a financial calculation to the implication of paying reparations: "If we were to recognize an obligation to provide reparations to the families of those killed — given the millions of victims of World War II, the victims of the Germans — it would ruin us."

German MPs rebuke far-right AfD during Namibia genocide debate

Promise in the government's coalition agreement

In the coalition agreement of the current German government, between the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), there are four lines in the 144 pages that summarize the extent of the government's commitment to reconciliation with Namibia.

"We will intensify our efforts to come to terms with colonialism," the text reads. "This includes transnational research into artifacts and the restitution of cultural property in dialogue with the countries of origin. Particular attention will be paid to establishing a dignified memorial site and the repatriation of human remains."

But political scientist Alexander Stroh-Steckelberg of Bayreuth University says that, compared to the efforts to address colonialism by the previous center-left German government, "the issue has lost visibility."

Zimmerer is harsher: "I wouldn't even call it a stalemate anymore. I believe this government is rolling back the progress that has been made in terms of raising awareness of colonial injustices."

Restitution of culture goods and human remains

Much remains to be done, as far the descendants of the Ovaherero are concerned: Tens of thousands of human remains are believed to still be in Germany. Direct descendants of the victims — such as Gaob D. Timotheus Frederick — have been fighting to heal these wounds for generations.

In March, the government established a coordination council, headed by the Foreign Ministry, which stated that the government did not wish to "dictate to the countries and societies of origin which cultural artifacts and human remains they should reclaim, what priorities they should set, or how restitutions should be handled."

Foreign Ministry official Serap Güler, chair of this coordination council, defends the government's actions so far. Recounting her own official trips — she has already been to Togo, and next week she plans to travel to Rwanda and Burundi — she claimed, "Everywhere I go, I receive recognition for our sincere and trusting approach to the past — as well as for our determined commitment to a future of freedom, security, and prosperity."

A dignified place of remembrance?

Zimmerer argues that Germany "has earned a reputation as a country that takes a critical view of its own history and learns from its mistakes," which, he says, represents "enormous cultural capital" on the world stage. But he is concerned that this capital is currently being squandered.

Colonialism does not appear to be included in the government's memorial policy. Even in the recent proposal by Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer to create a dignified memorial site in Bremen, Zimmerer detects an attempt to "marginalize German colonial crimes." He notes that victim groups have not been included and that the colonial capitals of the German Empire — Berlin and Hamburg — must also become sites of remembrance.

Ninety-five percent of the colonial troops set sail from Hamburg's Baakenhafen, including Commander Lothar von Trotha, who issued the orders to exterminate the Ovaherero and Nama. According to Zimmerer, the fact that a new opera house — rather than a memorial site — is being built at Baakenhafen constitutes a staggering case of "art-washing of history." Mehler also hopes that a productive debate on memorial sites will still take place and that, overall, "many more places will come to terms with colonial history."

Meanwhile, Gaob D. Timotheus Frederick continues to call for a collective effort to come to terms with the past: "Let us give opportunity to the affected communities that are being represented by us to have a seat on the table to discuss with them the rest of the way."