As Germany’s most important port, Hamburg was also a key colonial metropolis. For centuries, the ‘Gateway to the World’ served as a gateway to the colonial world. The city maintained trade relations with colonial powers and colonies, trading in colonial goods and, indeed, in human beings. This history has left its mark. Hamburg is full of (post-)colonial sites of remembrance that are not only of interest to the city’s history but also shed light on the history of colonial globalisation. The sites of remembrance examined range from conceptual worlds such as the figure of the ‘Hanseatic’ to institutions of the colonial economy and politics such as the port or the Chamber of Commerce, individual companies such as the Woermann Group, and science, culture and art, for example the Museum of Ethnology (now MARKK) or Hagenbeck Zoo and its ‘human zoos’. The history of individual monuments, such as the large ‘Bismarck’ statue at the harbour or the ‘Askari reliefs’, is also examined. Supplemented by biographical sketches, it becomes clear what colonialism meant for Hamburg, but also what Hamburg meant for colonialism.

This book is included in DOAB.