A Deterritorialized History: Investigating German Colonialism ...

financial manipulation and the creation of a private African fiefdom. 99 Many in Germany
identified the fall of Peters as indicative of Africa’s negative influence upon the
European. Like that of Langheld, this barbarization of a purportedly “cultured” European
by the “savagery” of Africa illustrates cultural and social deterritorialization and
reterritorialization and shows how the colonies influenced the colonizer. Here, a
deterritorialized conception contrasts with much historical literature which
unidirectionally finds only the colonizer’s culture having an effect upon the colony. 100
Many of the expeditions undertaken by Frobenius, Schnitzler and Peters had the
development of knowledge about Africa as their purpose. German administrators became
cognizant of their inadequate knowledge of their colonial subjects and sought to gain
such information in order to make their colonies more successful and efficient. As such,
this desire for information exemplified a growing trend in Germany toward a developing
awareness of the cultures over which it governed. Increasing expeditions aimed at the
comprehension of Africa’s unique circumstances suggests the growing relevance of
colonial science. 101 Research on these expeditions included everything from sexual
relations amongst the tribes to migratory bird patterns to epidemiological, meteorological
and astronomical studies. 102
The German administration also considered the acquisition of information about
its colonial subjects increasingly germane, especially the development of a new
“scientific colonialism” designed to invigorate colonial economies. The government and
the DKG worked together on the creation of a statistical database of colonial trade and
the compilation of intelligence on foreign colonial business competitors. 103 With regard
to colonial subjects, the 1913 muster of all people in Southwest Africa typifies a
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