Who, What, Where Is Colonial?
From “Pokesu” to “Anna Mungunda Allee”, a new volume explores Berlin’s colonial entanglements. It brings to light what has long been overlooked and connects historical research with current debates on remembrance and decolonisation in the city.
How colonial is Berlin? Through six contributions, this volume explores previously overlooked links between Berlin and European colonialism—from Brandenburg-Prussia’s role in the early modern enslavement trade to present-day struggles over urban politics and memory. The volume focuses on:
- Actors, including Brandenburg-Prussian engineer and fortress commander Carl Constantin von Schnitter, and the influential West African power broker Jan Conny.
- Events, such as the 1884/85 Berlin Conference.
- Sites, such as the ‘African Quarter’ in Berlin-Wedding, where contested histories remain etched into the urban fabric.
What emerges clearly is that Berlin’s history is also a colonial history — and its legacies endure to this day.
Available in the museum shops of our museums in the Nikolai Quarter – or exclusively online here on this page.
The Book
Lorraine Bluche, Suy Lan Hopmann (eds.)
Who, What, Where Is Colonial?
Exploring Berlin’s History from Pokesu to Anna-Mungunda-Allee
With contributions by Aischa Ahmed, Annika Bärwald, Laura Frey, Anne Haeming, Josepha Jendricke, Andrea Weindl, Clara Westendorff.
Published by Verlag M / Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin
ISBN 978-3-939254-56-0
Price: 14 euros (paperback)