Erich Victor Carl August Franke (21 July 1865 – 7 August 1936) was a German military officer and the last commander of 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 ...

'' in

German South West Africa German South West Africa () was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. German rule over this territory was punctuated by ...

. Franke was born in Zuckmantel,

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Habsburg monarchy (from 1804 the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 the Cisleithanian portion of Austria-Hungary). It is la ...

. He was ''Bezirksamtmann'' (district officer) in several German South West Africa locations, especially

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan and later a non-geographic ethnic-based second-tier authority, the Representative Authority of the Ovambos, in South West Africa (present-day Namibia). The apartheid government stat ...

and

Kaokoveld The Kaokoveld Desert is a coastal desert of northern Namibia and southern Angola. Setting The Kaokoveld Desert occupies a coastal strip covering , from 13° to 21°S and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Namibian savanna woodl ...

. He was stationed at

Outjo Outjo (Otjiherero: ''small hills'') is a town of 15,000 inhabitants in the Kunene Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of Outjo Constituency. It is best known as the main gateway to Etosha National Park. Overview The town was founded ...

from 1899 until 1910. He was involved in several campaigns against native tribes who resisted German colonial rule. In the early phases of the Herero Genocide of 1904, he was dubbed "Hero of Omaruru", because of his victory over numerically superior

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people, a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today * Herero language, a language of the Bantu family (Niger-Congo group) * Herero and Nama genocide * Herero chat, a species of bird ...

forces at Omaruru. He also had successful campaigns against the Herero at

Okahandja Okahandja is a city of 45,159 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the B1 r ...

and

Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...

. At the beginning 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 ...

, he led a successful counter-attack against Portuguese forces at Naulila,

Portuguese Angola In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...

(see German campaign in Angola). On 12 November 1914, he became commander of the ''Schutztruppe'' after the death of Joachim von Heydebreck. He and 2,166 men surrendered to South African forces near Khorab on 9 July 1915. Five weeks later, South African troops controlled the entire German colony. In 1919, Franke left South West Africa, and in 1920 retired from the German Army as a Major-General. Today, the "Franke Tower" in Omaruru stands as a monument to Franke's 1904 military exploits. Three kilometres outside the town of

Otavi Otavi is a town with 10,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. Situated 360 km north of Windhoek, it is the district capital of the Otavi electoral constituency. Geography The towns of Otavi, Tsumeb (to the north) and Gr ...

on the

Tsumeb Tsumeb (; ) is a city of around 35,000 inhabitants and the largest town in the Oshikoto Region, Oshikoto region in northern Namibia. Tsumeb, since its founding in 1905, has been primarily a mining town. The town is the site of a deep mine (the ...

Road is a memorial marking the German surrender at Khorab. Also, in the town of

is the "Franke House Museum".

External links

Namibian Biography Page
by Klaus Dierks * {{DEFAULTSORT:Franke, Victor 1865 births 1936 deaths People from Zlaté Hory People from Austrian Silesia Colonial people of German South West Africa Prussian Army personnel Schutztruppe personnel German military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Silesian-German people Herero and Nama genocide perpetrators