Collection on Board?

The Project

Oceans, warships and naval life are not necessarily the first things that spring to mind when thinking about the Black Forest metropolis of Freiburg. And yet, two collections stand out from the extensive Oceania holdings of the Ethnological Collection. At the beginning of the twentieth century, naval officers  Walther Brandt and Paul Werber served a decade apart on the small cruiser S.M.S. Cormoran and assembled collections that subsequently ended up in Freiburg. Both men took part in so-called ‘punitive expeditions’ in the former German colonial territories in the South Pacific as crew members of the warship. This very circumstance raises the question of whether there is a connection between the objects in the Museum Natur und Mensch and these historic acts of colonial violence. 

To investigate and address this question, the research project “S.M.S. Cormoran, German ‘punitive expeditions’ in Oceania and the Ethnological Collection of the Museum Natur und Mensch. On the connection between colonialism and ethnographic collecting activities” was undertaken from January 2023 to December 2024 and funded by the Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste (German Lost Art Foundation). In this context, both collections, the biographies of the collectors, as well as the connection between ethnographic collections and the S.M.S. Cormoran, were studied in detail. To this end, extensive file holdings were reviewed, literature was analysed and evaluated, relatives of the collectors were located and inquiries were lodged with circa fifty German-speaking institutions that hold relevant collections. In addition, contact was made with people on the island of Pohnpei in Micronesia whose ancestors were directly affected by one of the punitive expeditions, and questions about the research project were developed and formulated together. Insights into the project and the most important results are summarised below.

The Background: 

German Colonial Territories in the Pacific and the Role of  S.M.S. Cormoran

The S.M.S. Cormoran was an unprotected small cruiser of the Bussard class. She was launched on 17 May 1892 at the Imperial Shipyard in Danzig and was decommissioned (scuttled) in the port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao, China) on 28 September 1914. The crew comprised nine officers and 152 men. The ship was armed with eight quick-loading guns and two deck-mounted torpedo tubes. Her sister ships were the Bussard, Falke, Seeadler, Condor and Geier. 

The main task of the S.M.S. Cormoran was to provide military protection for German interests in the colonial territories in Oceania. Between 1884 and 1899, the German Empire had acquired the fourth largest European colonial empire in terms of population. This included a huge territory in the Pacific, which consisted of the so-called concession and lease territories in China, such as Qingdao, and areas in the present-day states of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, the United States of Micronesia and the Northern Mariana Islands. In contrast to the African colonies, the German Empire had very few colonial officials and no military units stationed in the Pacific territories, with the result that that naval presence was a particular expediant. 

The S.M.S. Cormoran was first assigned to the East Asian Cruiser Division, then to the East Asian Cruiser Squadron and subsequently to the Australian Station. During its various deployments, it sailed the region between East Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands, transported troops, delivered mail and consolidated cargo, colonial administrative personnel, collectors and explorers, as well as conducting scientific research, for example, in the form of the expedition to navigate the Sepik and its upper reaches in 1909. 

However, the ship was also involved in numerous punitive actions against the local populations of the German colonial territories, which involved the enforcement of judicial orders and arrests without the use of physical force, but also extensive military operations. Examples include the suppression of the Sokehs Uprising in 1910/1911 on Pohnpei (United States of Micronesia), in which Paul Werber played a seminal part, or the retaliation against the population of Mussau Island (St. Matthias Islands, Papua New Guinea) in July 1901 after the murder of two German explorers, in which Walther Brandt participated. 

After the scuttling of the S.M.S. Cormoran in September 1914, the Russian steamer Rjäsan, captured by the S.M.S. Emden, was equipped as an auxiliary cruiser and continued to operate as the Cormoran. This ship is usually referred to as the auxiliary cruiser Cormoran, sometimes also as S.M.S. Cormoran II. During World War I, it participated in military conflicts in the Pacific for a short time, until it was forced to remain in Guam in December 1914 due to a lack of coal. After the United States entered the war, Commander Zuckschwerdt had the ship sunk by explosive detonation in the port of Apra on 7 April 1917. Several crew members perished in the explosion and were buried in Guam. Due to its relation to the collection of the Museum Natur und Mensch, the research project also focused on the activities of the first S.M.S. Cormoran. However, during visits to Guam, traces of the second Cormoran and its crew were also taken into consideration and documented.

The Project’s Questions and Approach

The main subject of the project was the question of whether there was a feasible connection between the acquisition of Walther Brandt’s and Paul Werber’s collections in Freiburg and military actions by the Imperial Navy in Oceania. This was linked to four substantive objectives: the reconstruction of the biographies of the collection itself and collectors, the digital publication of the collection, research into the historical context of the collecting activities of S.M.S. Cormoran’s crew members, as well as collaboration with individual and institutional cooperation partners on Mussau and Pohnpei. 

To facilitate this endeavour, a stay of several weeks in both places was envisaged. In view of the problematic security situation and the major logistical challenges of conducting research in a remote location such as Mussau, the focus of direct cooperation and engagement landed on Pohnpei. This made sense for several reasons. First, an institutionalised state culture of remembrance in the form of Sokehs Rebellion Day on 24 February is maintained on Pohnpei, which is also celebrated as a national holiday there. On the other hand, the project team was able to draw on an ethnographic study on the memory of the uprising, in which Paul Ehrlich documents the memories of contemporary witnesses in his 1978 dissertation. From September to October 2023 and from February to March 2024, the project team then travelled to Micronesia twice to trace both the footsteps of Paul Werber and the involvement of S.M.S. Cormoran. 

During two stays on Pohnpei in autumn 2023 and spring 2024, the project team networked with stakeholders and institutions on Pohnpei in order to publicise the project’s subject matter and outcomes locally. The most important local cooperation partner was the Historic Preservation Office (HPO) in the capital Kolonia, the mandate of which is the preservation national cultural heritage. Thanks to the unstinting commitment of the HPO staff, the project team was able to give presentations to several hundred students from four high schools in Pohnpei during their two visits. The focus was on the material cultural heritage of Micronesia in German museum collections and shared colonial history. In addition, the HPO also facilitated contacts with traditional authorities and the exchange of information with experts on the country’s history and culture. 

In addition, the project team visited historical sites in Pohnpei associated with the S.M.S. Cormoran. These included the section of a road, still visible today, the construction of which being the catalyst for the outbreak of the uprising, the Sokehs Mountains, where a large part of the fighting took place, the war memorial for the fallen crew members of the S.M.S. Cormoran and the mass grave for the executed leaders of the uprising in the capital, Kolonia. The delegation also visited the sites in Guam where the crew members of the S.M.S. Cormoran were interned and the deceased crew members are buried. Among the latter was a sailor named K. Bumarum, who hailed from New Guinea and remained in Guam after the end of the First World War, married there and died a short time later.

Two archival collections were particularly important for research into the biographies of the collections and their collectors, but also into the historical circumstances of ethnographic collecting activities in a naval context: the files of the former Museum für Natur- und Völkerkunde in the Freiburg City Archives and the files of the Imperial Navy in the Freiburg Military Archives. The latter include both the official reports of the navy ships, with occasionally highly detailed descriptions of missions and collecting activities, as well as the estates of naval personnel. These include the diaries of Walther Brandt and Paul Werber, as well as numerous letters from the latter to his parents, which are important sources in documenting the officer’s periods of service in the South Seas. In addition to the analysis and evaluation of extensive file holdings, the available specialist literature was sounded out, relatives of the collectors were located, inquiries were lodged with around fifty German-speaking institutions that hold relevant collections and exchanges were sought with the descendants of those affected by the ‘punitive expedition’ on Pohnpei. 

In addition to the research work itself, the project team gave numerous talks and published a series of papers on the subject. The two collections were digitally captured, documented and photographed, with the result that they are now available in the municipal museums’ online collection. The project team has also furthered networking with colleagues from other museums that are likewise engaged in the subject areas of collecting and shipping/the navy in order to address common research questions. A joint exchange programme has been set up to this end. Using the project funds, historical files relevant to Pohnpei were also transcribed and translated from the military archive in Freiburg into English in order to hand them over to the state’s educational institutions. 

Results

Previous Owner Walther Brandt

Walther Rudolf Julius Brandt was born on 31 May 1872 in Friedrichsort-Kiel. From 1881, he underwent training with the navy in Kiel and passed the naval officer’s examination in 1892. In the following years, he served on various ships in Europe, the Americas, East Asia and Oceania, including on the S.M.S. Kaiser from autumn 1896 to September 1898, when he participated in the occupation of Qingdao. In March 1898, he was promoted to lieutenant. After two further assignments as a watch officer on S.M.S. Charlotte and Stosch, he served as 1st watch officer and navigation officer on S.M.S. Cormoran from June 1901 to 1903, a period germane to his collection.

After embarking in Sydney on 17 June 1901, Brandt’s first mission was the so-called ‘punitive expedition’ to Mussau (St. Matthias Islands, now part of Papua New Guinea), which was in retaliation for the murders of the explorers Bruno Mencke and Ludwig Caro. In his military diary, Brandt documented this: 

“[With] Boluminski on board steamed to St. Matthias, anchored at [S]tations Island. Four days of landing manoeuvres – I went along once – saw Mencke’s camp. Fired approx. 10-10.5 cm shells at the island, then landed, approx. 85 natives dead and 16 captured, steamed back to Herbertshöhe.” (BArch MSG/2/11023). 

According to these sources, Brandt was involved in the punitive expedition. However, they do not reveal whether he actively participated in combat operations. However, he is named in a list with which Commander von Grapow recommended those officers who had gone ashore during the operation for the Kolonialdenkmünze (Colonial Commemorative Medal). (BArch RM/3/3566) 

After this first stay on Mussau, Brandt continued his travels with the S.M.S. Cormoran to Kokopo (Herbertshöhe), the Solomon Islands, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tahiti, the Marquesas, the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands, Pingelap, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap, Palau, the Mariana Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, New Ireland, Australia, Fiji and Hawaii. Brandt’s own records end in July 1902, but the S.M.S. Cormoran did not return to Australia until spring 1903, when the two-yearly crew change probably took place and Brandt embarked upon the return leg of the journey. 

According to his family, he arrived back in Germany in 1903 and had been promoted to lieutenant captain. In the following years, Brandt worked in various positions in the navy, both on land and at sea. In 1909, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and in 1918 he was suggested for assignment in the rank of frigate captain. His connection to Freiburg was virtue of his marriage to Emma Bauer in 1905, a daughter of the well-known Freiburg architect Friedrich Bauer, which resulted in two children. In the early 1920s, the Brandts lived at 59 Goethestr. in Freiburg. After their divorce in 1924, Walther Brandt moved to Detmold and earned his living as a private tutor for mathematics, Latin and Greek, as well as with the building of model ships and the additional income from his naval pension. On 22 November 1961, Walther Brandt died at home in Detmold-Hiddesen after a short illness aged ninety.

The Walther Brandt Collection

The eighteen objects held in the Ethnological Collection of the Museum Natur und Mensch originally belonging to Walther Brandt arrived at the museum in 1978. They were offered for sale to the museum by one of Brandt’s descendants. It was through her that the then head of the collection also learned something about their origin and the connection to Walther Brandt’s time on the S.M.S. Cormoran. Brandt himself left no information about his collection or the circumstances under which he acquired it. This also applies to the initial question of the project, whether the collection could have been acquired in the context of the military expedition to Mussau in 1901. However, after the research had been completed, the regional composition of the collection does not suggest that any of the objects could have come from Mussau. 

Rather, the traditional attributions to New Ireland, Polynesia and Micronesia indicate places that Brandt visited with the S.M.S. Cormoran during his time of service. Stays at New Mecklenburg (today New Ireland), Samoa (Polynesia) and the Marshall Islands (Micronesia) are documented. It is plausible that Brandt acquired the objects locally during this time. However, inspection of the relevant documents in the German Federal Archives has also shown that the S.M.S. Cormoran did not carry out any further ‘punitive expeditions’ during Brandt’s period of service. In this respect, this dubious context for the transfer of objects can at least be largely discounted. It is possible that chance purchases/exchanges or gifts played a role here. This is also suggested by lieutenant captain Otto von Burski’s descriptions, who, as the successor to Max von Grapow as commander of the S.M.S. Cormoran, repeatedly documents details of bartering and purchases in his military/political reports for 1903 during a round trip of the Caroline Islands, in particular the Chuuk Atoll, as well as during a visit to the Solomon Island of Buka.

All objects from the Brandt Collection can be found here. 

Previous Owner Paul Werber

Paul Lambert Werber was born on 15 July 1881 in Rastatt in Baden. After attending school in Freiburg from 1889 to 1892, he embarked on a naval career and trained as a naval cadet in Karlsruhe and Groß-Lichterfelde. In 1905 he was promoted to lieutenant, and on 16 July 1917 to lieutenant commander. From 1899 until the end of the First World War, Werber served on numerous naval ships, including a period as first officer on the S.M.S. Cormoran in 1910 to 1912. 

Under the command of Rear Admiral Werner Siemens, Werber led the S.M.S. Cormoran’s landing party intent on the in the suppression of the anti-colonial Sokehs Uprising on Pohnpei between December 1910 and February 1911. The uprising was a direct protest against forced road construction and a controversial land reform that the German colonial administration wanted to implement in the Sokehs region. In the course of the protests, several German citizens, including Vice Governor Boeder, were killed. In total, the crews of four naval ships and a contingent of police soldiers from New Guinea were involved in the retaliation, making this conflict the largest military operation mounted by the German Empire in the Pacific colonies. Werber’s collection also includes objects from Pohnpei that may date from the time of his stay there. 

After the First World War, Werber lived in Wilhelmshaven, where, in the political turmoil of the November Revolution, he joined the free corps’ “Ehrhardt Brigade”, which had been founded by naval officers. In this capacity, he was involved in fighting in numerous German cities, as well as in the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch of 1920. After the forced disbanding of the brigade, he was one of the founders of the conspiratorial proto-fascist ‘Organisation Consul’, which  caused great consternation in the populace following the murders of Matthias Erzberger and Walther Rathenau. In 1924, Werber received a three-month prison sentence for his membership and leading role in the organisation. He had joined the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) in 1923. After working for several years as a commercial clerk in Hannover (1921–1924) and Plauen (1924–1930), Werber moved back to Freiburg in 1931. 

He was active in Freiburg as a part of the local Nazi group and began his career in broadcasting. After working as a Nazi district radio official for Baden (1931), head of programming (1932) and state commissioner (1933) at Süddeutscher Rundfunk, Werber finally attained the influential position as one of two managing directors of the Reichsrundfunkkammer (Reich Chamber of Broadcasting) founded by Joseph Goebbels in July 1933. He also ran the propaganda department there. The Reich Chamber of Broadcasting was the central organ for the ‘coordination’ of the German broadcasting landscape and a centrepiece of the Nazi propaganda apparatus. Further career steps involved the programme management at the Reichssender  Hamburg (1935-1938) followed by a directorship at the Reichssender Frankfurt /Main. Paul Werber died on 15 May 1941 in Frankfurt and was buried in the family crypt in Denzlingen. 

The Paul Werber Collection

Paul Werber’s collection reflects – in a similar way to that of Walther Brandt, but on a larger scale – the route of the S.M.S. Cormoran through and around Oceania. It reveals a regional focus on the Caroline Islands and New Guinea. Unlike Walther Brandt, whose collection was sold posthumously by his family to the museum, Werber was in contact with the then museum director Hugo Ficke himself through his father and collected actively for the museum. Paul Werber first mentioned his collecting in a letter to his parents dated 13 July 1910 from the New Hebrides: 

“I am also very much looking forward to our expedition to the Bismarck Archipelago after Christmas, which is otherwise almost never visited. I hope to be able to acquire a lot of interesting weapons, handicraft tools, etc. I would be happy to donate some of the items to the Freiburg Museum, but of course I need to know the exact address. I will ship the items from Sydney.” (BArch MSG 2/12543)

On 21 October 1910, Hugo Ficke responded to Werber’s offer and also conveyed specific collection requests to him: 

“Your father, Major Werber, informed us that you wish to have the great kindness to collect for us on the South Sea islands visited by your ship. We accept this very valuable offer with our most sincere thanks! 

Among the places you visited, we are quite well provided with items from the Marshall Islands (Jaluit) and Nauru, thanks to an earlier gift from Governor Brandeis. We also have various items from some places in New Guinea, especially from [omission in original, author’s note]. But other things are completely missing, for example the costumes of the duk-duk dancers from the Gazelle Peninsula. 

As for the way we collect, perhaps you will allow me to make the following suggestions: It is not at all necessary for the objects to be new and flawless. On the contrary, old things that bear the patina of use are more welcome to us. Objects made with the use of European materials, paints, metals, etc., are of less value to us than those made entirely with local materials, even if they are simpler and less attractive. 

That said, we welcome everything: fabrics, plaits, household items, cult objects, weapons, models of huts or boats, jewellery, etc. We will gladly replace any expenses incurred with our thanks. Please address the shipping crates directly to ‘Städt. Museum Freiburg Brg’, as they are not subject to customs formalities in this case.” (SAF D.Sm 32/1d.)

In the following two years, Paul Werber put together his collection, obviously taking his cue from Ficke’s suggestions. Among other things, he sent numerous weapons, masks and a model of a house from Palau, as well as seven models of boats to Freiburg. His collection arrived in four consignments between 1911 and 1912, at least three of which were donations, documented to varying degrees. In a letter from Matupi dated 1 September 1911, Werber expressed his “pleasure” that his collection had been well received in Freiburg and sent a list of objects for his next shipment, which duly arrived in November. It contains scant information about the objects, in most cases only a designation with an indication of the item and place, such as “spoon from Ponam”, and, more rarely, something more detailed, such as “a bed from ‘Lonju’ near Sea Eagle Harbour on the main island of ‘Manus’”. 

Werber did not provide the museum with any records of his collecting strategy or the contexts of acquisition that would have allowed conclusions to be drawn about how he actually obtained the objects. The most fruitful source in this regard are the letters to his parents, which are preserved in the military archives in Freiburg. The letters suggest that during his stays on the islands and atolls where the S.M.S. Cormoran periodically docked, he acquired objects mainly through purchase or exchange, and, in some cases, received them as gifts. A passage from his letters about Manus gives an impression of this: 

"We have been on a round trip in the Bismarck Archipelago in German New Guinea for three weeks now. We left Matupi on 31 July and headed first to the large, relatively unexplored Admiralty Group [...] We went [...] to Seeadlerhafen [Seeadler Harbour, north coast of Manus; author's note] and anchored there. A crowd of canoes came on board [...] Presently, a lively bartering took place. I exchanged a lot of interesting things for tobacco, old knives and similar stuff, which will be sent to the Freiburg Museum with the next post.” (BArch MSG 2/12543)

All objects of the Werber collection can be found here. 

References to Pohnpei and the Anti-colonial Uprising in Soheks

With regard to the initial question of the project on the connection between ‘punitive expeditions’ and the collections of the S.M.S. Cormoran officers, three objects from Pohnpei in the Werber collection are particularly significant. Werber did not provide any information about the circumstances of their acquisition, although the objects themselves provide some clues. They are a ‘house mat’ (whereabouts still unknown) and a ‘loincloth’ or grass skirt. Grass skirts made of hibiscus fibres were typical male clothing on Pohnpei, which was widespread during the time of the uprising in 1910/1911. 

This question also arises in the case of the ‘house mat’, about which, unfortunately, no further information is available. The reference to ‘Dschokatz’ in the old inventory book makes this particularly clear. It refers to the island/region of Sokehs (known then in the contemporary German colloquialism ‘Dschokadsch’), where Werber commanded the S.M.S. Cormoran’s landing corps for several weeks during the hostilities. In his diary, which is also held in the Freiburg military archive, he describes how his unit torched villages, canoes and crops in order to destroy the insurgents’ livelihoods systematically. 

It is not possible to say for sure whether the mat or other Pohnpei objects came into his possession as spoils of war during these hostilities, or whether he acquired them by other means. In theory, consensual transactions such as purchase, exchange or gifts for guests may also provide a possible explanation, since the majority of the population of Pohnpei did not take part in the uprising. The fact that Werber received the objects during later stays on Pohnpei can be excluded by the dating of his shipments. Therefore, this temporal coincidence at least suggests a connection with the acts of violence on Pohnpei.

Collections of other S.M.S. Cormoran Officers

In addition to Walther Brandt and Paul Werber, collectors without a connection to Freiburg  and associated with the Cormoran, were also considered. They include, among others, lieutenant commanders Otto von Burski (1860–1905), Hugo Emsmann (1858–1933), Max von Grapow (1861–1924), Adalbert Zuckschwerdt (1874–1945), Rear Admiral Werner Siemens (1873–1964), as well as the naval staff doctors Hans Podestà (1871–1953) and Wilhelm Schlieper (1878–1928). As the inquiries have shown, in addition to Freiburg, the main focuses are on the Berlin/Ethnologisches Museum (Schlieper, von Burski) and Stuttgart/Linden-Museum (von Grapow, Podestà). The Schlieper collection comes from the Sepik expedition of the ship and includes human remains, while the Grapow and Podestà collections in Stuttgart were assembled, among other things, during the ‘punitive expedition’ to Mussau (St. Matthias Islands) in 1901. During the storming of the main island, almost 100 people, including women and children, were killed by the soldiers of the S.M.S. Cormoran and human remains were also stolen. Von Grapow also took photographs of prisoners of war on site, which are also held in Stuttgart. 

People who cannot be assigned to any institution so far have appeared in files or contemporary reports as collectors, without verification of the whereabouts of their respective collections being possible at the present time. Hugo Emsmann had already emerged as a collector during the research project on the Brandeis collection as he gave some ethnographic objects to Antonie Brandeis as a gift. At the time of writing this report, Werner Siemens confirmed that a small collection, probably from Papua New Guinea, had been received from his family for the Museum Fünf Kontinente in Munich. Adalbert Zuckschwerdt's collection was apparently on board the S.M.S. Cormoran when it sank in Apra Harbour. It can be assumed that the above information covers the most significant collections of people associated with the S.M.S. Cormoran.

Conclusion and Outlook

The project on the collectors and collections of the S.M.S. Cormoran was the first project to examine the specific context of colonial transactions in the surrounding field of a naval vessel. Due to their historical significance, the so-called punitive expeditions were the focus of the project, even though it became apparent during the course of the project that the majority of the collected objects came from non-military contexts. This raises the question of how supposedly consensual transactions – purchase, trade, gift exchange, ‘guest gifts’ – are to be classified against the backdrop of colonial power relations. Even if the everyday life of the navy in Oceania did not consist primarily of combat operations, its presence served to represent the German Empire’s colonial monopoly of the use of force. Further research should then focus precisely on this grey area of collecting situated between the exercise of colonial power on the one hand and the agency of the local population on the other. 

Research has also shed light on the biographies of naval officers who collected ethnographic objects during their missions in the South Seas. While Walther Brandt and Paul Werber apparently collected primarily out of cultural interest, their personal trajectories evince stark differences. After leaving the navy, Brandt retired to a quiet civilian life, whereas Werber became actively involved in the militant, anti-democratic insurgency during the ferment of the Weimar Republic and made a career for himself in the Nazi broadcasting machine. In addition to his direct involvement in the colonial history of violence on behalf of the German Empire, this also casts a shadow over his collection in terms of his subsequent, historically-relevant Nazi background, which warrants further research. 

The subject matter and results of the research project have met with a great deal of interest in Micronesia. On the one hand, this was a result of the realisation – new to many people – that there are extensive holdings of material culture from Pohnpei and the Caroline Islands in German museum collections, which are absent from the islands today as cultural heritage. This information was received very positively, both in the form of talks, database excerpts and photos of the objects. On the other hand, everyone involved in the project felt that there is a positive need, especially among the younger generation in Micronesia, to learn more about the German colonial era. For this reason, the project team brought translations of important historical sources and documents with them and handed them over to local cooperation partners. 

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the staff of the Historic Preservation Office in Pohnpei, in particular Jackleen Santiago and her team, His Excellency Lapalap Isipahu, Nahnmarki von Madolenihmw and Her Excellency Rihna Hebel, Likend von Madolenihmw, Augustine Kohler, Ashley Meredith, the Sokehs Municipal Government, Koropin David (RIP) and family, Takuya Nagaoka, Bruce Robert, Nigel Jaynes and Mavrick Dores (Micronesia Productions), the staff of the Central Culture Administration and the German Lost Art Foundation, as well as Markus Himmelsbach and Heiko Wegmann. Special thanks go to the descendants of the two families of Walther Brandt and Paul Werber, who most obligingly provided us with information and documents. 

Further Reading and Information

Godwin Kornes, im Ersch.: Kolonialismus, Freikorps, Propaganda: Die Karriere des Korvettenkapitäns Paul Werber (1881‒1941) zwischen Kaiserreich und Nationalsozialismus. Freiburg Postkolonial, Reihe Personen. 

Godwin Kornes und Stefanie Schien, im Ersch.: Sammlung an Bord? Beispiele für Objekttransfersituationen und lokale agency aus Ozeanien im Umfeld der S.M.S. Cormoran. Lübecker Museen.

Godwin Kornes, 2024: Die Kaiserliche Reichsmarine in Ozeanien. Annäherung an eine Grauzone bei kolonialzeitlichen Sammlungserwerbungen. In: Richard Hölzl u. Museum Fünf Kontinente (Hrsg.): Kolonialismus in den Dingen. Das Museum Fünf Kontinente und seine Bestände aus der Kolonialzeit. München u. Regensburg: Schnell & Steiner, S. 87‒98.

Godwin Kornes, 2023: Bootsmodelle aus Ozeanien als Technisches Kulturgut? Überlegungen zu einer unterschätzten Objektkategorie (nicht nur) in ethnologischen Sammlungen. In: Sören Groß u. Ron Hellfritzsch (Hrsg.): Technisches Kulturgut. Provenienzforschung zu Handel und Entzug. Jena: Stiftung Deutsches Optisches Museum, S. 58‒87.

Bundesarchiv: Aufruhr auf Ponape. Widerstand gegen die deutsche Kolonialherrschaft im Pazifik.

Authors: Godwin Kornes and Stefanie Schien