The Kwami Affair was an incident in 1932 when a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Carl Röver Carl Georg Röver (12 February 188915 May 1942) was a German Nazi Party official. His main posts were as '' Gauleiter'' of Gau Weser-Ems and '' Reichsstatthalter'' of both Oldenburg and Bremen. Early years Röver was born in Lemwerder and ...

attempted to stop Ghanaian pastor Robert Kwami from delivering a sermon in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Robert Kwami, a representative of the Protestant Ewe-Church, had come to Germany in summer 1932. He was invited by the Norddeutsche Missionsgesellschaft in order to hold a lecture tour with sermons in

Northern Germany Northern Germany (, ) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the two city-states Hambur ...

to inform the German people about Christianity in the former German colony of

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 ...

and to collect donations to support the young African church. Donations had been scarce in the age of depression. Sixty events had been planned, but due to great public interest 150 lectures and sermons were carried out in 82 towns in

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. ...

East Frisia East Frisia () or East Friesland (; ; ; ) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisia (peninsula), East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the ...

, the

County of Bentheim The County of Bentheim (, Low German ''Benthem'') was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the south-west corner of today's Lower Saxony, Germany. The county's borders corresponded largely to those of the modern administrative district ...

and in the Free State of Oldenburg. This included a planned sermon in the St. Lamberti Church in September 20, 1932, for which the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg () is a Lutheran church in the German state of Lower Saxony. The seat of the church leaders is in Oldenburg, as is the preaching venue of its bishop at St Lamberti Church. The Evangelical Lutheran Churc ...

had given permission. By 1932, the Oldenburg free state was governed by the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. Gauleiter Carl Röver, who was also Minister-President of Oldenberg, reacted to the proposed sermon, directing racist tirades against Kwami, the Norddeutsche Mission and the supreme church council, and demanding the sermon be postponed. The Nazi-party called upon the State Ministry of Oldenburg to stop the sermon. The church parish asked Heinrich Tilemann, member of the Oberkirchenrat, for help, who defended the plans of the church. However, Röver could not be stopped, and in a speech on September 16, 1932 he incited members of the Nazi-party to take action. Concerned about the security of Robert Kwami the parish, Oldenburg Pastor Erich Hoyer sent an open letter to 35 German newspapers wherein he accused the Nazi minister of arousing hatred against the church and the initiators of the sermon and asked for an apology. In the meantime church councillor Dr. Buck, expecting uproar and violence from the Nazis, asked Oldenburg's mayor Dr. Goerlitz for police protection. Despite the public threats by local Nazis, the sermon was carried out as planned on September 20, 1932. Kwami, who was fluent in German and also of German citizenship, held his sermon in the afternoon and a lecture in the evening. The event was a great success. About 2000 people filled the pews of the church, with people waiting in front of the church to listen, to support Kwami, and to encourage the young African pastor. Due to the open letter that Pastor Hoyer had sent to 35 newspapers, the “Kwami Affair” had become a topic talk not only in Germany, but was also covered in British and Dutch newspapers.Die Kwami-Affäre. Brücke für Afrika – Die Norddeutsche Mission (entnommen 30. August 2011)
See als
Karikatur
a Bremen newspaper about the affair, showing Carl Röver (left) und Robert Kwami (right).

References

External links

''Die Kwami-Affäre.''
Brücke für Afrika – Die Norddeutsche Mission (30. August 2011)

Brücke für Afrika – Die Norddeutsche Mission (30. August 2011) * Sabine Schicke

In: ''Nord-Westzeitung.'' 12. August 2007. (20. August 2011) {{Authority control History of Protestantism in Germany 1932 in Germany African diaspora in Germany Anti-Christian sentiment in Germany Oldenburg (state) Anti-black racism in Germany Germany–Ghana relations

See also

References

External links