Jesko Albert Eugen von Puttkamer (2 July 1855 – 23 January 1917) was a German diplomat, colonial administrator, and military officer who served as colonial governor of German Kamerun from 1895 to 1907.

Early life and career

Jesko von Puttkamer was born to an aristocratic family. His father, Robert von Puttkamer, served as Interior Minister of Prussia, while his aunt,

Johanna von Puttkamer Johanna, Princess of Bismarck, Duchess of Lauenburg (born Johanna Friederike Charlotte Dorothea Eleonore von Puttkamer; 11 April 1824 – 27 November 1894) was a Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian and German Empire, German noblewoman and the wife of t ...

, was the wife of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...

. Puttkamer studied law at various schools throughout Germany, and as a young man became notorious for engaging in gambling and prostitution. In 1883, he began his diplomatic career working at the German Consulate in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Colonial service

In 1885, as a result of his frivolous lifestyle, Puttkamer was sent to the newly-established German colony of Kamerun in Africa, where he became a colonial diplomat, and was also drafted into the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

as an officer in 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 a ...

. He was eventually appointed by governor Julius von Soden to serve as Deputy Governor, a position which he served until 1890, after which he worked as a German diplomat in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. From 1892 to 1895, Puttkamer served as

Landeshauptmann The Landeshauptmann (if male) or Landeshauptfrau (if female) (, "state captain", plural ''Landeshauptleute,'' ) is the chairman of a state government and the supreme official of an Austrian state and the Italian autonomous provinces of South Ty ...

Togoland Togoland, officially the Togoland Protectorate (; ), was a protectorate of the German Empire in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 90,400&nb ...

Governor of Kamerun

Jesko von Puttkamer was appointed Governor of Kamerun on 13 August 1895, succeeding Eugen von Zimmerer. During his term, he launched military campaigns against the kingdoms of the Adamawa and Bafut, after both had uprisen against German rule. It was during these campaigns that Puttkamer and his troops committed several atrocities, including forced castrations, fatal floggings, and the kidnapping of young girls to be employed as concubines. In addition, he employed forced labor and favored the rights of white men and his troops over those of native women, which put him at odds with missionaries in the region. In response to these misdeeds, King Manga Ndumbe Bell of the Duala led a delegation of tribal chieftains 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 ...

in 1902 to appeal to the German government in protest of Puttkamer's actions. This delegation was unsuccessful, and three years later Bell made a second attempt, only to be arrested by Puttkamer upon his return and given a prison sentence of nine years. By 1906, news of Bell's arrest and the events in Kamerun had led to a public outcry in Germany, and Puttkamer was finally put on trial. During the trial, Puttkamer was found guilty of acts of

insubordination Insubordination is the act of willfully disobeying a lawful order of one's superior. It is generally a punishable offense in hierarchical organizations such as the armed forces, which depend on people lower in the chain of command obeying orde ...

, and was made to pay a fine of 1,000

Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛ︁ℳ︁; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 1948. The Reichsmark was then replace ...

s. On 9 May 1907, Puttkamer was dismissed as governor by German colonial secretary Bernhard Dernburg. Puttkamer had built a lavish residence for himself in

Buea Buea is the capital of the Southwest Region (Cameroon), Southwest Region of Cameroon. The city is located in Fako (department), Fako Division, on the eastern slopes of Mount Cameroon, and has a population of about 800.000 inhabitants as of 2 ...

; following his dismissal, the residence was occupied by the new civilian governor of Kamerun Theodor Seitz.

Marriage and death

Jesko von Puttkamer officially retired from military service in 1908. In 1914, after many decades of celibacy, he married Elisabeth Passow. They had one son, who died in infancy. Puttkamer hanged himself on 23 January 1917.

References

Bibliography

* Ralph Erbar: ''Puttkamer, Jesko Freiherr von.'' In: ''New German Biography'' (NDB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, , p. 21 f. ( digital copy ). * ''German Colonial Lexicon.'' Volume 3. Leipzig 1920, p. 117. ( online ) * Florian Hoffmann: ''Occupation and military administration in Cameroon. Establishment and institutionalization of the colonial monopoly on the use of force 1891–1914.'' Goettingen 2007. * Andreas Eckert : ''Cameroon as a German colony.'' In: ''Back then. Magazine for history and culture.'' February 1996. * Ellinor von Puttkamer (editor): ''history of the sex v. putting chamber.'' (= German family archive, volume 83-85). 2nd Edition. Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch 1984, , pp. 695–696. * Jürg Schneider: Berlin-Cameroon: The governor and a Berlin half-world lady, in: Ulrich van der Heyden and Joachim Zeller (eds.): Colonialism ''in this country - a search for traces in Germany.'' Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2007, , pp. 195–200. {{DEFAULTSORT:Puttkamer, Jesko Von 1855 births 1917 suicides 1917 deaths German colonial people in Kamerun German mass murderers German military personnel who died by suicide German torturers German war criminals Suicides in Germany Suicides by hanging in Germany Schutztruppe personnel Military personnel from Berlin People from the Province of Brandenburg Jesko University of Königsberg alumni Togoland