German colonial efforts on the Somali coast were pursued from 1885 to 1890. Representatives of the German East Africa Company signed friendship and protection treaties with local rulers in the coastal cities of Somalia in 1885 and 1886 with the aim of acquiring areas north of

Wituland Wituland (also Witu, Vitu, Witu Protectorate or Swahililand) was a territory of approximately in East Africa centered on the town of Witu, just inland from the Indian Ocean port of Lamu, north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Keny ...

. In 1888 and 1890, respectively, the project, which overlapped with

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

claims, was abandoned.

Background and strategy

Cities of importance on the 1800s Somali coast were

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

Kismayo Kismayo (, , ; ) is a port city in the southern Lower Juba (Jubbada Hoose) province of Somalia. It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region. The city is situated southwest of the capital Mogadishu, near the mouth of the Jub ...

, Warsheikh,

Merca Merca (, ) is the capital city of the Lower Shebelle province of Somalia, a historic port city in the region. It is located approximately to the southwest of the nation's capital Mogadishu. Merca is the traditional home territory of the Bimal c ...

and Barawe. They were primarily trading cities, as agriculture was hardly possible in the immediate vicinity due to the region's

arid climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

Andreas Birken: Das Sultanat Zanzibar im 19. Jahrhundert. Stuttgart 1971, S. 155. These port cities were under the rule of the

Geledi Sultanate The Sultanate of the Geledi (, ) also known as the Gobroon dynasty,Somali Sultanate: The Geledi City-state Over 150 Years - Virginia Luling (2002) Page 229 was a Somali people, Somali kingdom that ruled parts of the Horn of Africa during the late ...

and the

Hiraab Imamate The Hiraab Imamate (), also known as the Yacquubi Dynasty, was a Somali people, Somali kingdom that ruled parts of the Horn of Africa during the 16th century till the 19th century until it was incorporated into Italian Somaliland. The Imamate was ...

. The British protectorate established in 1884 over the Northern Somali Coast in turn, troubled the Majerteen Sultans in present-day

Puntland Puntland is an autonomous state that considers itself to be part of Somalia, despite not accepting the legitimacy of Somalia's current governing administration. It was formed in 1998, and was a federal member state of Somalia from its fou ...

. Rolf Herzog
''Reaktion einiger Somalistämme auf frühe Kolonialbestrebungen.''
1975/77 (PDF; 997 kB) The African researcher and later consul

Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs (14 April 1831 – 2 June 1896) was a German geographer, explorer, author and adventurer. Biography Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs was born at Vegesack, later part of Bremen. His father was a physician, and encouraged Rohlf ...

recommended German acquisitions on the Somali coast from 1882 in order to establish trade relations inland. German colonial agents now tried on the one hand to provide Sultan Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar for the provision or to push the lease of its Somali coastal places, and on the other hand to conclude trade agreements and alliances against Zanzibar with the Somali sultans in the hinterland of these coastal places. However, the

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

also had similar plans.

Northeast Somalia

The contracts concluded by representatives of society with Somali rulers should extend

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...

to such an extent that it would have extended from the Rovuma River in the south along the entire East African coast to

Cape Guardafui Cape Guardafui is a headland in Somalia, in the federal state of Puntland. It forms the geographical apex of the Horn of Africa. Its shore at 51°27'52"E is the second easternmost point on mainland Africa after Ras Hafun. The offshore oceanic st ...

in the north. In February 1886,

Carl Peters Carl Peters (27 September 1856 – 10 September 1918) was a German explorer and colonial administrator. He was a major promoter of the establishment of the German colony of East Africa (part of today’s Tanzania) and one of the founders of ...

asked the German government for a protectorate for the entire Somali coast.Photomontage „Dr. Carl Peters erwarb ein riesiges Kolonialreich in Ostafrika“
, Bildbestand der Deutschen Kolonialgesellschaft in der Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main.

Hörnecke expedition in the Majerteen Sultanate

In Aluula, near Cape Guardafui, an expedition group led by the government builder Gustav Hörnecke closed on 6 September 1885 a far-reaching friendship agreement with the local Sultan Bogor Osman Mahmoud Yusuf (1854-1927) from the Majerteen clan, who belong to the Darod clan family. The contract drawn up in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Arabic (not in Somali) shows significant differences between the two language versions. While the German text refers to a protection treaty with the German Empire and land transfers to the German-East African Society, the Arabic text only mentions a treaty on friendship and support for society in the research and utilization of the

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...

. The area of Sultan Osman affected by the treaty should extend from cape westwards to Bender Ziada, about 400 kilometers east of

Berbera Berbera (; , ) is the capital of the Sahil, Somaliland, Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country, located approximately 160 km from the national capital, Hargeisa. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of t ...

, and southwards to Cape Ras Assuad (near Hobyo, in the

Mudug Mudug () is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in north-central Somalia. The population of Mudug is 131,455 as of 2005. Overview Physiographically, Mudug is bordered to the west by Ethiopia, to the north and south by the Somali regions of Nu ...

region). However, according to the German version, the contract area extended to the gates of the already British Berbera. Inland, the contract area would each extend 20 day trips (i.e. about 600 kilometers deep and thus into Ogaden).

Anderten expedition in the Sultanate of Hobyo

While Hörnecke returned to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

after concluding the contract via

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

and

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

and two DOAG employees tried in vain to establish the contractually promised branch in Caluula, Hörnecke's adjutant, Lieutenant Claus von Anderten, had been commissioned to expand the contract area to the south. With Osman's relative,

Yusuf Ali Kenadid Yusuf Ali Kenadid (; 1837 – 14 August 1911) was a Somali Sultan and the founder of the Sultanate of Hobyo. He was succeeded to the throne by his son Ali Yusuf Kenadid. Family Yusuf Ali Kenadid was born into the Bah Yaaqub (part of the large ...

of Hobyo, Anderten closed the agreement on 26 November 1885, the German and Arabic versions of which differed similarly significantly. According to this follow-up contract, the Sultan subordinated the coastal area of the Abgal clan belonging to the Hawiya tribe south of Hobyo to the gates of Warsheikh (i.e. to about 80 kilometers north of

). Inland, a length of 25 day trips to the borders of the

Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. Under Article 49 of 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Constitution, the capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa, also called Finfinne. The ...

area was planned this time (i.e. about 750 kilometers and thus deep again into Ogaden).Norbert B. Wagner
''Archiv des Deutschen Kolonialrechts''
(PDF; 1,9 MB). Brühl/Wesseling 2008, S. 366–370.

References

{{Authority control History of German East Africa 19th century in Somalia Germany–Somalia relations European colonisation of Africa Former German colonies