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Hermann Wilhelm Leopold Ludwig Wissmann, after 1890 Hermann von Wissmann (4 September 1853 – 15 June 1905), was a German
explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...
and administrator in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
.


Biography

Born in
Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...
, Wissmann was enlisted in the Prussian Army in 1870 and was commissioned a Lieutenant four years later. Wissmann served Mecklenburg in Füsilierregiment No. 90 posted at
Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...
. During this time he had to serve a four-month prison sentence for wounding an opponent in a
duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...
. An 1879 chance meeting with the explorer Dr. Paul Pogge changed his life. Granted a leave of absence from the army, in 1880, Wissmann accompanied explorer Paul Pogge on a journey through the
Congo Basin The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...
. In the eastern Congo, Pogge and Wissmann parted company. Pogge stayed to build an agricultural research station for a Congolese chief, while Wissmann trekked to the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
via present-day
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
. He was awarded the 1888
Founder's Medal The Founder's Medal is a medal awarded annually by the Royal Geographical Society, upon approval of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, to individuals for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". Foundation From ...
of the
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
for his explorations. Afterwards Wissmann was in the employ of King
Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leo ...
, who was in the process of creating his personal African empire, known as the
Congo Free State The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...
. In March 1883 Wissmann gave the name " Zappo Zap" to a Songye leader known as Nsapu Nsapu who ruled over the town of Mpengie, part of the Ben'Eki kingdom in the eastern Kasai region. This was a settlement with more than a thousand people, many of them slave warriors, to the east of the Sankuru River between
Kabinda Kabinda is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of Lomami Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Projected to be the second fastest growing African continent city between 2020 and 2025, with a 6.37% growt ...
and
Lusambo Lusambo () is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of Sankuru province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town lies north of the confluence of the Sankuru River and the Lubi River. Lusambo is served by Lusambo Airp ...
. Zappo Zap's people became allies and auxiliaries of the Congo Free State authorities. In 1899 they were sent out by the colonial administration to collect taxes. They massacred many villagers, causing an international outcry. When in 1888 the attempts of the German East Africa Company to start a dominion collapsed in face of African resistance, it asked Bismarck for help, which was at first refused. In 1888, Wissmann was promoted to captain and appointed 1st official Reichskommissar (8 February 1888 to 21 February 1891) for the
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 ...
region where he was tasked with suppression of the Abushiri Revolt led by
Abushiri ibn Salim al-Harthi Al Bashir ibn Salim al-Harthi () (c.1840 - 15 December 1889), was a wealthy merchant and slave-owning plantation owner of Omani Arab parentage who is known for the Abushiri Revolt against the German East Africa Company in present-day Tanzania. He ...
. Wissmann was only given one order: "Victory". On his way to East Africa Wissmann hired a mercenary force of mostly Sudanese soldiers from decommissioned units of the Anglo-Egyptian army to whom later a number of Zulus from South Africa were added, all under the command of German officers. The German forces, along with British naval assistance, fortified Bagamoyo,
Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...
and retook Tanga and
Pangani Pangani (''Mji wa Pangani'', in Swahili language, Swahili) is a historic town and capital of Pangani District in the Tanga Region of Tanzania. The town lies south of the city of Tanga, Tanzania, Tanga, at the mouth of the Pangani River in whic ...
. Wissmann's forces with superior firepower also retook the rest of the Coastal Strip. They fortified the interior garrison of Mpwapwa and reopened the main caravan route through the area, using Lts. Langheld, Sigle, Charles Stokes & Sergeant Bauer. Soon afterwards, Abushiri was arrested and executed in Pangani on 16 December 1889. In January 1890, Wissmann issued a general pardon to the remaining rebels. Wissmann's forces used extremely brutal methods borrowed from the Congo to suppress resistance. Massacres were carried out with the new
Maxim gun The Maxim gun is a Recoil operation, recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Maxim, Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first automatic firearm, fully automatic machine gun in the world. The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most ...
, which fired at around 500 rounds per minute. Wissmann also plundered towns and burned fields. Anyone who refused to submit themselves to his forces was killed. Prisoners were used for slave labor and sexual slavery. Wissmann was promoted to major in 1890 and given a hero's welcome on his return to Germany. In 1891 he was named commissioner for the western region of
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 ...
and became Reichskommissar in 1895. In the same year his son, Hermann, was born. Ill health forced him to resign from the army return to Germany in 1896, where he authored several books and lectured throughout Germany. Wissmann died in a hunting accident on 15 June 1905, after accidentally shooting himself with his own rifle.


Legacy

Though he was highly esteemed by his officers and non-commissioned officers, he came under heavy criticism from some German diplomatic and military observers. He was harshly attacked for burning villages and laying waste to agricultural fields, executing great numbers of natives and tolerating no opposition. For the German General-Consul at Zanzibar Michelies he was a military dictator. Rear Admiral Karl August Deinhard of the German East African naval detachment charged him with arrogance, tactlessness, being undiplomatic, and lack of organizing or administrative skills. The term "''Wissmanntruppe''" was used for the military and police units under Wissmann's command. They formed the core of the later ''
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 a ...
'' which came into life after the German government took over East Africa from the failed company. In 1890 a single-screw steamship christened SMS ''Hermann von Wissmann'' was built by the Hamburg Janssen and Schilinsky shipyard. It was built in sections in Germany shipped to East Africa, transported overland and launched in Lake Nyasa in September 1893. It was captured at Liuli by the British in the first naval action of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. A similar but smaller version christened the SMS ''Hedwig von Wissmann'' after Hermann's wife was launched on
Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...
in September 1900. In 1916 she was sunk in a battle with HMS ''Mimi'' and HMS ''Toutou''. The Wissmann Monument in Dar es Salaam was removed by the British. Its statue is now in Hamburg.


Bibliography

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Notes


External links

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Archive Herman von Wissman
Royal Museum for Central Africa {{DEFAULTSORT:Wissmann, Hermann 1853 births 1905 deaths People from Frankfurt (Oder) People from the Province of Brandenburg German explorers of Africa German mass murderers German war criminals People of former German colonies Governors of German East Africa Military personnel of the German Empire Prussian Army personnel Schutztruppe personnel Hunting accident deaths Accidental deaths in Austria Deaths by firearm in Austria