The Brandenburger Gold Coast, later Prussian Gold Coast, was a part of the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. The

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

colony existed from 1682 to 1721, when King Frederick William I of Prussia sold it for 7200 ducats to the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

Brandenburger Gold Coast

In May 1682 the

German colonization of Africa Germany colonized Africa during two distinct periods. In the 1680s, the Margraviate of Brandenburg, then leading the broader realm of Brandenburg-Prussia, pursued limited imperial efforts in West Africa. The Brandenburg African Company was charter ...

began when the newly founded Brandenburg African Company (German: ''Brandenburgisch-Afrikanische Compagnie'' ( de), which had been granted a charter by Frederick William,

Elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...

(core of the later

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n kingdom), established a small

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

n colony consisting of two Gold Coast settlements on the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in ...

, around

Cape Three Points Cape Three Points is a small peninsula in the Western Region of Ghana on the Atlantic Ocean. It forms the southernmost tip of Ghana. Location Cape Three Points is located between the coastal village of Dixcove and town of Princes Town, Ghana. ...

in present

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

: * Groß Friedrichsburg, also called Hollandia,Accada and Hollandia: p.252. New Cambridge Modern History Atlas, H.C. Darby and Harold Fullard now

Pokesu Princes Town or Pokesu is located 5 km east of Fort Santo Antonio, Fort St. Antonio on Manfro Hill in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region, Ghana, Western Region of south Ghana. It lies between Axim to the west and Sekondi-Takorad ...

: (1682–1717), which became the capital *

Fort Dorothea Akwidaa is a small town and fishing village in Ahanta West district, a district in the Western Region of south-west Ghana, and is one of the southernmost places in Ghana. Economy The economy is primarily based upon fishing, with many fishing ...

, also called Accada, now Akwida: (April 1684–1687, 1698–1711, April 1712–1717), which in 1687–1698 the Netherlands, Dutch occupied

German governors during the Brandenburger era

* May 1682–1683 – Philip Peterson Blonck * 1683–1684 – Nathaniel Dillinger * 1684–1686 – * 1686–1691 – Johann Niemann

Prussian Gold Coast

On 15 January 1701, the small colony was renamed Prussian Gold Coast Settlements, in connection with the founding of the Prussian kingdom, which formally took place three days later, when Frederick I of Prussia, Frederick III, Brandenburg-Prussia, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, crowned himself King in Prussia (after which he became known as Frederick I of Prussia). From 1711 to April 1712 the Dutch occupied Fort Dorothea again. In 1717 the colony was physically abandoned by Prussia, so that from 1717 to 1724 John Canoe, John Konny (in Dutch: Jan Conny) was able to occupy Groß Friedrichsburg, from 1721 in opposition to Dutch rule. In 1721 the rights to the colony were sold to the Dutch, who renamed it Hollandia, as part of their larger Dutch Gold Coast colony.

Governors during the Prussian era

* 1701–1704 – Adriaan Grobbe * 1704–1706 – Johann Münz * 1706–1709 – Heinrich Lamy * 1709–1710 – Frans de Lange * 1710–1716 – Nicholas Dubois * 1716–1717 – Anton Günther van der Menden

References

* World Statesmen.org
Ghana
* Accada and Hollandia: pg. 252. New Cambridge Modern History Atlas, H.C. Darby and Harold Fullard

External links