Who, What, Where Is Colonial?
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)