Working Group Postcolonial Trier

Public history project in partnership with PD Dr Eva Bischoff

Duration: since 2022

Since 2015 at the latest, the year in which the German colonial war against the Herero and Nama (1904-1908) was recognised as genocide by the Bundestag, German colonial history has been at the centre of media attention. Representatives of the descendants in Namibia as well as BiPoC activists and their allies have been pointing out, especially since 2004, that it is high time for German society to take a critical look at German colonial history. One expression of this is the many local initiatives that have been founded to achieve street renamings or to recognise our own colonial history and its impact on our lives today in the form of a post-colonial city tour.

In cooperation with representatives of civil society organisations, in particular the association Afrikanische Community Trier e.V., committed students are reconstructing Trier's colonial history and its effects, which remain palpable to this day, in order to jointly develop a city tour on the topic. As there is no literature on the subject, the working group draws information directly from the historical material available in archives and libraries. Initial results show that Trier is linked to colonial history in a variety of ways: by sending missionaries, importing South American leather for further processing, trading in colonial goods (e.g. tobacco) or emigrating to South and North America. Wealthy citizens in particular were involved in colonial political organisations such as the German Colonial Society.

The working group meets monthly (on the third Monday of each month) and is coordinated by PD Dr Eva Bischoff. Participation is open to all interested parties. If you would like to take part, please send an email to: bischoff[at]uni-trier.de.