Museum Natur und Mensch Freiburg is once again to receive funding from the German Lost Art Foundation
On the connection between colonialism and the collecting of ethnographics”). Funding for the project is provided in the form of a grant awarded by the German Lost Art Foundation. The museum’s ethnological collection comprises almost 3,000 objects from Oceania, more than 1,200 of which found their way to the museum during the period of German colonial rule.
A project to digitise the Oceania collection was carried out in 2017/2018, with much of this now having been published in the online collection of the Städtische Museen Freiburg. This preliminary work forms the point of departure for the current project, which is itself divided into two parts. The first deals with the collectors Paul Werber and Walter Brandt, who collected ethnographic objects as crew members of the S.M.S. Cormoran, a cruiser that belonged to the Imperial German Navy. The second part of the project is concerned with fundamental research and contextual research: here the focus is on the voyages undertaken by the navy vessel, and its participation in so-called ‘punitive expeditions’ and other military activities. Collecting by crew members during German colonial rule in Oceania will also be investigated.
The aim is to establish the circumstances of acquisition, origin and significance of the collected objects as well as their historical connection with the ‘punitive expeditions’ undertaken by S.M.S. Cormoran together with partners from the societies of origin. In addition, ethnographic holdings from Oceania that are linked to military activities in which the ship was involved are to be identified in other collections and museums in Germany and the findings communicated to the members of the societies concerned.
Anyone who is able to provide any information or indications regarding the history of the S.M.S. Cormoran and her crew members, please contact: provenienzforschung-mnm@stadt.freiburg.de
For further information, see www.freiburg.de/sms-cormoran