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Paul Reichard (2 December 1854 – 16 September 1938) was a German explorer who traveled extensively in the
African continent 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 ...
. His discoveries led to the establishment of 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 ...
Protectorate.


Early years

Paul Reichard was born on 2 December 1854 in
Neuwied Neuwied (, ) is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the Neuwied (district), District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the east bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt ...
on the Rhine. He studied in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
and in 1873 joined the Corps Rheno-Palatia, a student organization. After graduation he was employed for some time as an engineer in
Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...
. In 1880 he volunteered as a member of an expedition of the German African society to establish a scientific station in East Africa. He prepared and equipped himself, taking Swahili lessons, and contributed 50,000 marks of his own money to the cost of the expedition.


African exploration

At first the leader of the expedition was Captain von Schoeler, and other members were the zoologist Richard Boehm and the topographer Edward Kaiser. In July 1880 they marched into the interior of what is now
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 ...
from the port of Bagamoyo. In November, they founded the Kakoma station in Unjamwesi, and stayed there for nine months. Captain von Scholer returned to Europe via Zanzibar after founding the station at Kakama. In 1881 Boehm and Reichard explored the Wala River, to the west of Gondo, as far as its mouth. Boehm and Kaiser made a three-month expedition to Lake Tanganyika, returning to the Gondo station at the end of 1881. Later a station was established at Igonda. Reichard said of the Ufipa of the Rukwa region to the east of
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. ...
that "calm, peace and order" reigned within the Fipa state. He described the rule of King Kapuufi as "generally energetic, but nevertheless mild". In October 1882 Eduard Kaiser died on an expedition to
Lake Rukwa Lake Rukwa is an endorheic lake located in the Rukwa Valley of Rukwa Region, Songwe Region and Katavi Region in southwestern Tanzania. The lake is the third largest inland body of water in the country. Geography The alkaline Lake Rukwa lies ...
. In December 1882, Reichard and Böhm left Igonda and traveled to Lake Tanganyika, exploring Karema in Tanzania and Mpala to the west of the lake in 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 ...
. Boehm and Reichard left the Belgian station of Mpala on the Tanganyika on 1 September 1883. They managed to cross the Luapala into a country then called "Urua". Reichard crossed the Luapula twice, finding it was only wide, with many waterfalls and rapids as it drops down through the Konde Irunde and Mitumba mountains. Boehm died on 27 March 1884. Reichard observed that the
Lualaba River The Lualaba River (, , ) flows entirely within the eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the River source, source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi River, Chambeshi ...
was between and wide and appeared to be the true source of the Congo based on volume of water. He found that the Lualaba flows through
Lake Upemba Lake Upemba ( French: ''Lac Upemba''; Dutch: ''Upembameer'') is a lake in Bukama, Haut-Lomami Province, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It, and nearby Lake Kisale, is surrounded by the Upemba Depression in Upemba National Park. The nea ...
and then through Kikonja Lake further to the north. Reichard travelled up the Lufira River to the copper mines of Katanga, of which the Europeans were already aware. He reported that the Katanga region was subject to the powerful chief
Msiri Msiri (c. 1830 – December 20, 1891) founded and ruled the Yeke Kingdom (also called the Garanganze or Garenganze kingdom) in south-east Katanga (now in DR Congo) from about 1856 to 1891. His name is sometimes spelled 'M'Siri' in articles in F ...
. The discoveries forced a number of revisions of the map of central Africa. He struggled back to the east, reaching Zanzibar on the Indian Ocean coast in November 1884.


Later career

In 1889 Reichard criticized the German government for making the mistake of treating the Sultan Seyid Bargash of Zanzibar in the same way as a European monarch. He said that when the German fleet visited it should have simply occupied the sultanate. Reichard and Böhm had made significant land acquisitions in the territories they explored, and Reichard called for a German protectorate, which came into formal existence with the signature of an agreement between Germany and Britain on 1 July 1890. He wrote numerous reports on the expedition that appeared in the ''Communications of the German African society''. In 1888 Reichard published observations on African slavery, saying that the trade is mainly conducted by Africans rather than Arabs. He said that 80% to 98% of Africans were slaves, with only the chiefs and their relatives being free. The owner had to treat his slaves well or they would simply run away to become a slave elsewhere. A comment on these assertions in the ''Journal of the American Geographical and Statistical Society'' said "Mr. Reichard's reasoning shows he has kept his nature unspotted from the world, and is more guileless than any one but a slave owner or a chief". In 1889 Reichard published an exhaustive account of African ivory and the
ivory trade The ivory trade is the commercial, often illegal trade in the ivory tusks of the hippopotamus, walrus, narwhal, black and white rhinos, mammoth, and most commonly, African elephant, African and Asian elephants. Ivory has been traded for hundred ...
. The accompanying map showed the range of elephants extending throughout sub-Saharan Africa, but showed that already in most regions they had been driven back from the coastal lands. He distinguished between the more valuable soft ivory from elephants that live in open woodlands and short-grass savannahs, and the less valuable hard ivory from elephants of the jungles and long-grassed savannahs. The trade at that time was dominated by Arabs based on Zanzibar in the east and by Portuguese in Angola in the west. After his return to Europe, Reichard lived in
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionBerlin-Charlottenburg, where he died on 16 September 1938Death register Wilmersdorf, Nr. 1472/1938. and was buried in the Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery.


Publications

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References


External sources

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Archive Paul Reichard
Royal Museum for Central Africa {{DEFAULTSORT:Reichard 1854 births 1938 deaths Burials at Stahnsdorf South-Western Cemetery German explorers of Africa People from Neuwied German people in German East Africa People from the Rhine Province