Afro-Germans

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German national team player Gerald Asamoah, who in 2005 participated in the campaign "Du bist Deutschland" (You are Germany)

Afro-Germans (in German Afro-Deutsche) are defined as the Black African community and diaspora in Germany.

Today, over 100,000 Germans are Afro-Germans, while there are easily twice as many additional foreign Afro-nationals living in Germany. Historic backgrounds vary; so does allocation: in particular, cities like Hamburg and Berlin have substantial grown Black communities, with a high percentage of ethnically mixed families; modern traffic and trade is further enriching the communities in additional areas like Frankfurt or Cologne.

The current status of people of African descent in Germany is still overshadowed by Germany's colonial history, which is still mostly being suppressed. For centuries, the domiciled African diaspora in Germany is either being ignored or seen from a narrow perspective. However, the history of the Afro-German community in Germany is an integral part of Germany's past and present, with a lively representation in education, art & culture, politics, media and community.

1 History
2 Modern Germany
3 External links

[edit] History

Coburg's Coat of Arms in 1493

Africans have been known to Germany since the pre-Christian times of the Roman Empire.

[edit] Holy Roman Empire

In 926 the Nubian Saint Maurice became a patron saint of the Holy Roman Emperors and has been honored in various sculptures and graphics throughout Germany: City of Coburg's Coats of Arms or a sculpture in Magdeburg.

[edit] Afro-Germans since 1600

The first German salesmen, missionaries and travelers came to Africa around 1600. The first Africans that they brought back home worked as aids for households or businesses. Most were living in situations comparable to their German-born work mates. Ghana-born Anton Wilhelm Amo became the first African to attend a European university during the 1720s and taught and wrote in philosophy - sponsored by a German duke.

[edit] Afro-Germans between 1884 and 1945

A typical Askari

German Empire and German colonies

The epoch of German Imperialism falls into the time of the German Empire. At the 1884 Berliner Congo conference, attended by all major powers of the day, Africa was divided under European powers. The erection of the German colonies was a pre-condition for larger number of Africans to enter Germany for the first time. The running of the German colonies demanded domestic specialists for the colonial administration and economy. Many young Africans came to Germany to be educated. Some of them received higher education at German schools and universities but the majority were trained at mission training and colonial training centers as officers or domestic mission teachers. Africans were frequently used as interpreters for African languages at German-Africa research centers or came to Germany as former members of the German protection troops, the Askari.

Many of these Africans, who came as young men or youth to Germany, remained for the duration of their adult lives, establishing families and careers.

Weimar Republic

Africa in 1910

After Germany's defeat in World War I, the British and French took control of her African colonies. The situation for Africans and their families in Germany changed in various ways. For example Africans possessed a Colonial-German identification card, now a status, that expelled them as "members of the former protectorates". After the Treaty of Versailles, the Africans should become citizens of the respective mandate countries. Still most Africans in Germany preferred to stay, for the standard of living and since they lived in part already over several years (and decades). In numerous petitions (above all for Togo in P. Sebald and Cameroon in A. Rüger well documented) they also tried to inform the German public about the conditions in the colonies.

To the numerous political activities of Africans belonged the foundation of a bilingual periodical that should appear in German and Duala and carried the title 'Elolombe ya Cameroon' (Sun of Cameroon). A political group of Africans established the German branch of a Paris-based human rights organization: "the German section of the League to the Defense of the Negro Race".

Many of the Africans encountered the Great Depression in Germany with no claim for unemployment compensation as this was tied to German citizenship. Some African were however supported through a small budget from the German Foreign Office.

Nazi-Germany

The conditions for Africans, Afro-Germans and their families got steadily more difficult during the National Socialistic Dictatorship. Naturalized Afro-Germans lost their passports. Working conditions and travel were made extremely difficult for Black musicians, variety, circus or film professionals.

Based on a racist propaganda, it was impossible even for willing employers to retain black employees. To become invisible with the evident visibility and compulsion had become less a life condition than an act of balance.

The politics of the NS-country and its authorities vis-à-vis those Africans in Germany appears extremely contradictory and irrational. Secret discussions of NS-functionaries speculated over possibilities to win Africans from former German colonies for a pro-German-colonial-propaganda; for the Nazis planned the erection of an "African colonial Empire under German predominance". The total legislation for a planned Apartheid-system existed in the design already in 1940, including laws for slaves and an African passport design. Nazi-Germany never approached the realization of its colonial dreams.

Next to isolation as a Black person, the worst forms of terror for Africans and Afro-Germans were compulsory sterilization or rendition to concentration camps. Despite these circumstances, Africans and Afro-Germans did receive some solidarity and support from Germans during these times.

For more information see Rhineland Bastard For the biography of an Afro-German under Nazi rule see also Hans Massaquoi

[edit] Afro-Germans since 1945

The end of World War II brought Allied occupation forces onto German soil of which numerous soldiers were of African descent. More than 100,000 US-Soldiers were to remain on German soil till the present day. These men established their lives in Germany and either brought families with them or founded new ones with German wives and children. The parallel Americanization of German life and culture during the following decades made it easier for Afro-Germans to obtain a full social standing. The established Afro-German communities in large German cities could regain their established status and finally received full German citizenship.

During the 1950s and 1960s Germany experienced a massive influx of foreign workers - mainly from Turkey and Southern Europe, while other Western European countries hired workers from ex-colonies. The opening of the European Union labour market during the 1980s further increased the influx of Africans (and now also West Indians) into Germany.

From the late 1980s onwards, Germany experienced large numbers of political asylum seekers from African states.

For more information see Immigration to Germany.

[edit] Modern Germany

[edit] Politics and Social life

Nadja Abd el Farrag
Hans Massaquoi

[edit] Art, culture and music

The cultural life of people of African origin in Germany have multifarious aspects and strive in its variety and complexity. With the emerge of MTV and ViVa an increased globalized "ethnicifiation" of mainly American pop culture further promoted Afro-German representation in German media and culture.

Music

Afro-German Rap musicians during the Hip-Hop-Gründerzeit of German speaking rap from the mid 80s till today:

Advanced Chemistry and "Fremd im eigenen Land"
Afrob
Rob Pilatus
D-Flame
Samy Deluxe
Manuellsen
Xavier Naidoo
Joy Denalane
Nadja Benaissa
Cassandra Steen
Jessica Wahls
Bushido
Kalusha
Taktlo$$
Deso Dogg
Harris
DJ Desue
Tyron Rickets
Jonesmann
Chima
Torch

Film

The SFD - Schwarze Filmschaffende in Deutschland (Black Artists in German Film) is a professional association based in Berlin, Germany for directors, producers, screenwriters, actors and actresses who are Afro-Germans or of African origin and living in Germany.