2023-10-10 07:13:38
The islands off the coast of Tanzania
Zanzibar, that sounds promising, especially for northern Germans. In the 1920s, Sylt naturists named their favorite beach near Rantum after the island in the Indian Ocean, which became the founding myth of the island “Zanzibar” became. Or one thinks of the Zanzibari princess Sayyida Salme bint Said alias Emily Ruete, as she was called from 1867, after her wedding to a Uhlenhorst merchant. In 2019, Hamburg named a place Emily Ruete. However, the decision has since been reversed and the Zanzibari writer did not distance herself from slavery in her memoirs, according to the accusation.
On Zanzibar itself, where the majority of the population descends from once-enslaved continental Africans, the approach to history is more relaxed. There is a “Princess Salme Museum”, and the architectural legacy of the former upper class of Arabs, Persians and Indians who became rich through human trafficking is also maintained – from the Sultan’s Palace to the city villas in Stone Town.
The old town district has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2000. In the alleys, Far Eastern scents of cloves, cardamom, nutmeg and vanilla mix with Arabic Taarab rhythms and Allahu Akbar calls.
Source: Infographic WELT
The last sultan from an Omani dynasty that took control of Zanzibar in 1698 was driven out by left-wing insurgents in 1964. This did not change the position of Islam as the dominant religion in Zanzibar. The archipelago, which consists of the islands of Unguja, Pemba and Latham, is also politically independent; When it merged with Tanzania in mid-1964, Zanzibar had insisted on a federal system with its own government.
The GDR had prefabricated buildings erected
As a travel tip they made it into every Zanzibar travel guide: Kikwajuni and Michenzani, two prefabricated housing districts on Zanzibar. If there weren’t palm trees between the four- to seven-story buildings, you could imagine yourself in an East German satellite settlement.
In the 1960s, the GDR had apartment blocks built “for the people of Zanzibar”.
Source: pa/imageBROKER/Angelika Jakob
And the words actually stand out German castles, houses of the Germans, on a memorial plaque in Kikwajuni. This reminds us that in 1966 the GDR built a dozen apartment blocks “for the people of Zanzibar”.
A memorial plaque in Kikwajuni commemorates the GDR as the developer of the prefabricated housing districts
Quelle: bye/SZ Photo/Angelika Jakob
A little later the larger Michenzani was built. Both quarters were built free of charge with East German building materials and engineering help – as a thank you for the fact that Zanzibar was the first African country to recognize the GDR in 1964, during its brief period of independence.
Between slaves and sultans
Captured, tortured, but unbroken: The sculptures of five nameless enslaved people represent the suffering of several hundred thousand Africans who were abducted to Zanzibar between the 17th and 19th centuries and from there sold into forced labor. The poignant memorial by Swedish artist Clara Sörnäs marks the spot in Stone Town where East Africa’s largest slave market was once located.
The memorial by Swedish artist Clara Sörnäs marks the spot in Stone Town that was once the site of East Africa’s largest slave market
Credit: Juergen Ritterbach/Alamy Stock Photo
Human trafficking was controlled from Oman, which moved its capital to the island in 1840 specifically for this purpose. Under pressure from the British, to which Zanzibar’s sultans finally had to submit, slavery was abolished in 1897. The enslavement monument, unveiled 100 years later, was the first on the continent.
The underwater hotel was a sensation
Africa’s first underwater hotel will celebrate its tenth anniversary in November 2023: „The Manta Resort“. It was a tourist sensation when it opened – and it still is today. As simple as the construction of the lodge with underwater room may seem, there are only a few imitators in the Indian Ocean.
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Maybe because the sea alone is not enough. It also requires consistently pleasant water temperatures of around 26 degrees Celsius, sufficient visibility depths, intact coral banks and steep walls hundreds of meters deep on which large species such as barracuda, manta rays, tuna and Napoleon fish cavort – just like on Pemba.
Steel cables anchored to the bottom hold the underwater hotel “The Manta Resort” in position; the glass-enclosed bedroom remains permanently below the surface of the water
Quelle: Manta, Pemba Island
The final deciding factor in anchoring a futuristic holiday home 250 meters off the coast of the unspoiled island, which is partly covered in rainforest, was the 50 meter wide and twelve meter deep Blue Hole. It was created when part of the fringing reef collapsed.
From a bird’s eye view, the Blue Hole resembles a pool that is filled – even at low tide – with the underwater lodge floating in the middle. Steel cables anchored to the bottom keep them in position, and the glazed bedroom remains permanently below the waterline. Whether during the day or at night thanks to the underwater spotlights: Anyone who rents a room here can count fish to fall asleep.
Zanzibar was never under German control
The British-Zanzibarian War, which was fought in the early hours of August 27, 1896, lasted 38 minutes and went down in history as the shortest battle. In the few minutes from 9 a.m. to 9:38 a.m., the British stationed on five ships in the port of Zanzibar bombarded the Sultan’s fortress. The aim of the campaign, to put a ruler acceptable to London on the throne, cost the lives of around 300 defenders.
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Six years earlier, the British and Germans had reorganized their interests in the region – with the result that the German Empire withdrew its claims in East Africa and Zanzibar in favor of the United Kingdom. In return, Berlin received the Caprivi Strip in South West Africa and Heligoland in a kind of package solution. This later gave rise to the legend that the North Sea island was exchanged directly for Zanzibar, but this is false in that Zanzibar was never under German control.
The quote
“I will be a legend”
Freddie Mercury’s prophetic words – in English “I’m going to be a legend” – are written on the facade of an exhibition dedicated to him in Stone Town. The lead singer of “Queen” was born in 1946 as Farrokh Bulsara into a family of Indian civil servants on Zanzibar, where he lived intermittently until 1964.
The highlight of the “Freddie Mercury Museum,” which opened in 2019 – it is located in his parents’ house – are handwritten song drafts. Mercury had already composed on the piano in Zanzibar. Anyone who books one of the “Freddie Mercury Apartments” on the upper floor of the museum can guess how the island influenced the work of the British artist, who died in 1991.
Bizarre, record-breaking, typical: You can find further parts of our regional studies series here.
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