Decolonial Memories

L'invitée de cet épisode est la princesse Espérance FEZEU de Bafoussam/Cameroun (questions en anglais, réponses en français). Elle est secrétaire exécutive de l'organisation de la société civile Esperanza-Cade , qui œuvre en faveur du développement local et du travail de mémoire dans cette ancienne colonie allemande . Une partie de ses activités est soutenue par le Service civil pour la paix de la...

Gast dieser Folge (deutsch) ist der Germanist und Philosoph Dr. Messan TOSSA , der am Staatsarchiv von Togo beschäftigt ist. Er verteidigt das Erbe der europäischen Aufklärung aus dem 18. Jahrhundert, trotz des von ihm benannten rassistischen Gehalts der Philosophie von Immanuel Kant und anderen zeitgenössischen Stimmen. Dr. Tossa betrachtet die Weiterarbeit am Projekt der Aufklärung als offenen P...

The guest on this episode is Dr Nancy Rushohora (University of Dar es Salaam), an internationally renowned Tanzanian archaeologist and heritage scholar , whose work deeply engages with memory, colonial history, and cultural legacies. Her academic research focuses, to a certain extent, on the era of German colonial rule in East Africa, particularly the Majimaji war. Contrary to other scholarly opin...

Gast dieser Folge ist Prof. Dr. Dirk Messner, Präsident des Umweltbundesamtes . Als Mitglied des Internationalen Beirats der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK) betont er die Bedeutung dieser herausragenden deutschen Institution für den kulturell-zivilisatorischen Wandel in Richtung Nachhaltigkeit. Er sieht es als eine Aufgabe des Beirats, sich mit Fragen von Kolonialismus und Restitution ause...

The guest of this episode is Mr Talengwa Kaseza Lukumbuzya from Tanzania. As Omukama ("king") of the island Ukerewe , he is the primary custodian of culture, inherited traditions, customs and language. Mr Kaseza talks about German colonial rule on his island and present challenges of sustainable development there. He came to Berlin with a delegation to meet with the Ethnological Museum, Museum of...

In dieser Episode spricht Dr. Michael Vesper , früherer Spitzenpolitiker von Bündnis 90/Die Grünen und ehemaliger Vorstandsvorsitzender des Deutschen Olympischen Sportbunds , über sein langjähriges Engagement zu Namibia und über die aktuelle Bedeutung der deutschen Kolonialgeschichte. Ein wichtiger Aspekt davon ist für ihn die Rückführung der kolonialen Raubgüter. Als Vorsitzender des Freundeskrei...

In dieser Folge blickt Dr. Thomas Lutz auf seine 40-jährige Tätigkeit als Leiter des Gedenkstättenreferats zurück; zunächst zehn Jahre bei der Freiwilligenorganisation Aktion Sühnezeichen/Friedensdienste , dann beim Dokumentationszentrum Topographie des Terrors . Er kommentiert die langjährigen Debatten zur Gedenkstättenkonzeption der Bundesregierung und spricht sich dafür aus, dem Kolonialismus e...

In this episode, Dr. Ohiniko Toffa, talks about the entangled history of his home country Togo and the former colonial power Germany. He works as provenance researcher at the Ethnological Museum Berlin . In his previous position, he was part of a team at the Ethnological Museums of Leipzig and Dresden which explored the provenance of their holdings from Togo. Dr Toffa has co-edited the volume „Tra...

In dieser Folge (deutsch) sprechen Dr. Christian Stachelbeck und Dr. Pierre Köckert über ihr Forschungsprojekt „Deutsches Militär im kolonialen Einsatz 1880-1918 – Ein Kontinuum der Gewalt“ am Bundeswehr-Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften . Begleittext hier . Find complete English transcript of the conversation here . Im Mittelpunkt des von 2024 bis 2028 laufenden Projekts steh...

In this episode, Flaubert Djateng, coordinator of the civil society organisation Zenu Network in Cameroon, talks about remembrance work on the German colonial era in his country. He is a member of a sub-committee of Cameroon's Restitution Committee that has prepared a national strategy yet to be approved by the Presidency. In Cameroon, he collaborates with Prof Albert Gouaffo (" Atlas of Absence "...

In this episode, writer and poet Neema Komba from Tanzania talks about her current novel project about Nduna Mkomanile , a female leader of the Majimaji war of resistance against German colonial rule. She describes how the fate of her family and community who fell victim to German colonial violence in 1902 has motivated her for the subject. Neema Komba is the author of " Mektildis Kapinga: A silen...

Sirili Molelia and his son Tony talk about their efforts to bring their ancestors back to their home in Kibosho/Tanzania. Mangi Molelia and other Chagga leaders were murdered by German colonial troops on 2 March 1900 , their remains transferred to Germany. On 17 February 2026, the Molelia family received custodianship of their ancestors from President Marion Ackermann, Prussian Cultural Heritage F...

In this episode, Jean Berchmans Ndihokubwayo , a historian from Burundi, talks about the entangled history between his country and Germany, the former coloniser. Jean is an Assistant Professor at the National University of Burundi. He is presently finishing his doctoral thesis at the University of Gießen . The scholar emphasizes that Burundi has a long tradition of remembering German colonial rule...

In this episode, Sylvie, founder-president of the Cameroonian cultural organisation Regartless , talks about her campaign #BringBackNgonnso in support of the people of Nso. Ngonnso is a deity embodied in a carved wooden statue adorned with cowrie shells held by Ethnological Museum Berlin as colonial loot. She was created in honour of Ngonnso, the founding mother of the Nso Fondom (Kingdom), in Cam...

In this episode, Dr. Bulami talks about his efforts to support the people of Nso (Northwest Cameroon) in reclaiming their cultural heritage. The Nso were victims of massive German colonial violence including the looting of cultural belongings and their transfer to Germany . Among them is Ngonnso, a deity embodied in a carved wooden statue that is adorned with cowrie shells. She was created in hono...

In this episode, Dr Valence Silayo, Lecturer of Archeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam, talks about his research on the entangled history of Tanzania and Germany. He is presently a guest scholar at the Linden-Museum Stuttgart where he has co-curated the exhibition "Celebrating Womanhood" on cultural belongings of the Chagga community in the Kilimanjaro region held by th...

The guest of this episode is Bernard Laulian Ntahondi, an artist and expert of heritage studies in Tanzania. His work, to a considerable extent, focuses on the legacies of German colonialism in his country. He talks about memories practices in many parts of Tanzania, the role of the national Restitution Committee and collaborative efforts to address the entangled history between Germany and Tanzan...

In this episode, Imani Nsamila , an independent photographer and visual artist from Tanzania, talks about remembering German colonial rule in his country. He calls on civil societies in Tanzania and Germany to deepen collaboration on the entangled past, thus creating possibilities for a new relationship between the two countries. He particularly commends the twinning arrangement between Hamburg an...

In this episode, Tanzanian scholar Dyoniz Kindata talks about his ongoing doctoral dissertation " Poetic and Photographic Practices in the Kiongozi German East African Colonial Newspaper 1885 to 1918 ". His research addresses questions such as: What was the linguistic and cultural status of Swahili before and during German colonization? How did Kiongozi and similar colonial publications function w...

In this episode, art historian Dr Salomé Soloum talks about her research on the history of clothing, sexuality and mores in pre-colonial Africa . Her academic interest also extends to the restitution of African heritage, particularly regarding the Republic of Benin . Dr Soloum is a member of the Académie des Traces . Presently, she is a guest scholar at the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin supported by...

In this episode, Cameroonian scholar Fogang Toyem talks about his changing perception of German colonialism and culture. And informs about his present work on a doctoral dissertation about German colonial health care policies (and crimes) in Togo and Cameroon .

In Episode 05 of the podcast Decolonial Memories, Dr Priscillia Manjoh talks about her work as author, academic and community worker in Cameroon and Germany. Coming from the English-speaking minority of Cameroon, she is particularly interested in overcoming divisions within her country by exploring the potential meaning of German colonial rule for national unity. Dr Manjoh sees the need of closer...

In this episode, Dr Laibor Kalanga Moko from Tanzania talks about his work as scholar with Freie Universität Berlin in the Collaborative Research Area " Affective Societies ", Sub-Project " Contested Property ". He was recently awarded with the Ernst Reuter Prize for his doctoral dissertation "Sensing the Colonial Order of Things: Maasai Materialities and Ethnographic Museums" (Supervision: PD Dr...

In this episode, Maike Schimanowski talks about her insights and experiences as co-curator of the exhibition "Histories of Tanzania" at the Humboldt Forum Berlin. She informs about challenges & accomplishments of the collaborative project by National Museum of Tanzania, Ethnological Museum Berlin and Stiftung Humboldt Forum. A noteworthy aspect is how the joint curatorial team reached out to c...

In this episode, Dr Richard Tsogang Fossi talks about the challenges and progress in documenting cultural belongings from Cameroon, translocated to Germany during colonial rule. He is member of the research team around Prof. B. Savoy (TU Berlin) and Prof A. Gouaffo (Université de Dschang) which produced the highly acclaimed Atlas of Absence .