Germany: Reichskolonialmt Papers on New Guinea

This material is held atInstitute of Commonwealth Studies Library, University of London

  • Reference
    • GB 101 ICS 21
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1886-1913
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
    • German
  • Physical Description
    • 6 boxes (0.06 cubic metres)

Scope and Content

Photocopies of papers from the Reichskolonialamt (German Colonial Ministry) on New Guinea and Samoa; (Ref KAIII 2986-2995 Allgemeine Verhaltnisse Kaiser Wilhelmsland - Neuguinea), concerning the central issues of German colonial policy in New Guinea, especially conquest. They mostly consist of Governors' despatches to Berlin, often with enclosures.

Administrative / Biographical History

The eastern half of the island of New Guinea - second largest in the world - was divided between Germany (north) and the UK (south) in 1885. The German garrison surrendered on 21 Sep 1914 to Australian troops, and their part of the Island was taken over by Australia as a mandated territory from 1919.

Arrangement

Chronological

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

The copies were acquired by ICS in 1979-1980.

Other Finding Aids

None

Archivist's Note

Compiled by Alan Kucia as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Conditions Governing Use

A photocopying service is available, at the discretion of the Library staff. Copies are supplied solely for the purposes of research or private study. Papers are presumably German Government copyright.

Location of Originals

In 1980 the original papers were in the East German Zentralarchiv at Potsdam (Ref KA III 2976-2995. This now forms part of the Bundesarchiv.

Bibliography

Information about the major collection of Pacific material at Potsdam is contained in two articles in the Journal of Pacific History , both by Marjorie Jacobs: 'German Colonial Archives: New Guinea and Samoa in the Deutsches Zentralarchiv' Vol 6 (1971), pp 151-161 and 'Further Archives from Potsdam' Vol 12, 1-2 (1977), 86-92.