Erich Victor Carl August Franke (21 July 1865 – 7 August 1936) was a German military officer and last commander of the ''

Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned ...

'' in

German South West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

. Franke was born in Zuckmantel,

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, (historically also ''Oesterreichisch-Schlesien, Oesterreichisch Schlesien, österreichisch Schlesien''); cs, Rakouské Slezsko; pl, Śląsk Austriacki officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, (historically ''Herzogth ...

. He was ''Bezirksamtmann'' (district officer) in several locations in German South West Africa, especially

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts ...

and

Kaokoveld The Kaokoveld Desert is a coastal desert of northern Namibia and southern Angola. Setting The Kaokoveld Desert occupies a coastal strip covering , from 13° to 21°S and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Namibian savanna woodl ...

. He was stationed at

Outjo Outjo (Otjiherero: ''small hills'') is a city of 6,000 inhabitants in the Kunene Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of Outjo Constituency. It is best known as a main gateway to Etosha National Park. Overview The town was founded by ...

from 1899 until 1910, and was involved in several campaigns against native tribes who resisted German colonial rule. In the early phases of the

Herero Genocide The Herero and Namaqua genocide or the Herero and Nama genocide was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment waged by the German Empire against the Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama in German South West Africa (now Namibia). ...

of 1904, he was dubbed "Hero of Omaruru", because of his victory over numerically superior Herero forces at Omaruru. He also had successful campaigns against the Herero at

Okahandja Okahandja is a city of 24,100 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the ...

and

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

. At the beginning of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he led a successful counter-attack against Portuguese forces at

Naulila Naulila is a town and commune in the municipality of Ombadja, province of Cunene, Angola. Located on the Cunene River which separates Angola and Namibia, Naulila was the scene of fighting between Portuguese Angola and German South West Afric ...

Portuguese Angola Portuguese Angola refers to Angola during the historic period when it was a territory under Portuguese rule in southwestern Africa. In the same context, it was known until 1951 as Portuguese West Africa (officially the State of West Africa). I ...

(see German campaign in Angola). On 12 November 1914, he became commander of the ''Schutztruppe'' after the death of Joachim von Heydebreck. He and 2,166 men surrendered to South African forces near Khorab on 9 July 1915. Five weeks later, South African troops controlled the entire German colony. In 1919, Franke left South West Africa, and in 1920 retired from the German Army as a Major-General. Today, the "Franke Tower" in Omaruru stands as a monument to Franke's 1904 military exploits. Three kilometres outside the town of Otavi on the

Tsumeb , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = ''Glück Auf'' (German for ''Good luck'') , image_skyline = Welcome to tsumeb.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag ...

Road is a memorial marking the German surrender at Khorab. Also, in the town of

is the "Franke House Museum".

External links

Namibian Biography Page
by

Klaus Dierks Karl Otto Ludwig Klaus DierksJoe Pütz, Heidi von Egidy, Perri Caplan: ''Political Who's Who of Namibia''. Magus, Windhoek 1989, Namibia series Vol. 1, ISBN 0-620-10225-X, pp. 203, 204 (19 February 1936 – 17 March 2005) was a German-born Nam ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franke, Victor 1865 births 1936 deaths People from Zlaté Hory People from Austrian Silesia Colonial people in German South West Africa Prussian Army personnel Schutztruppe personnel German military personnel of World War I History of Namibia Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Silesian-German people