Jesko von Puttkamer

Jesko Albert Eugene of Puttkamer ( born July 2, 1855 in Berlin, † January 23, 1917 in Charlottenburg ) was a German colonial administrator, Governor of Cameroon and Imperial Commissioner of Togoland.

Life

From Puttkamer came from a Pomeranian noble family. He studied law in Strasbourg, Leipzig, Freiburg, Breslau, and Königsberg. After passing the trainee exam (1881 ) he hit a consular career and in 1883 assigned to the Imperial Consulate in Chicago. In 1884 he moved to further training at the Foreign Ministry and was appointed Chancellor of Cameroon and Deputy Governor Julius Freiherr von Soden in May 1885. In July 1887, he was interim commissioner for Togoland (now Togo and sub- area of Ghana), August 1888 Consul in Lagos and 1889 again Imperial Commissioner for Togo, from 1893 with the title of provincial governor. As the successor of Eugen von Zimmerer he took over January 1, 1895, first deputy, the business of the central administration and was appointed on August 13, 1895, Governor of Cameroon.

His term was around Mount Cameroon, which he promoted massively in the sign of the expanding plantation economy. He also supported the end to be fine in the kingdom of granting concessions to the Company Southern Cameroon (GSK ) and the Society Northwest Cameroon ( GNK ) in the years 1898 /99. On Puttkamers initiative, the transfer of the government from Douala went back to the healthier Buea located on Mount Cameroon (1901 ). The governor's palace he built there (so-called " Puttkamerschlößchen " ) brought him for his lavish features a strong criticism. In 1898 to 1903, the occupation of the entire sanctuary was completed to Lake Chad by the Imperial Security Assistance Force, with the war against the Emir of Adamawa and the occupation of the Tschadseeländer by the commander of the troops, Lieutenant Colonel Pavel, but against Puttkamers explicit commands. Was he in the first years of his tenure definitely still a representative of a rigid policy of conquest, as the expeditions against the subscription, Kpe and Bakoko show (1894-1896), he turned in the wake of increasing problems with the military administration in the hinterland and of his own, ongoing open conflict with the officer corps of the protection force of the idea of the violent expansion from and sought a non-military integration of indigenous societies in the German jurisdiction.

Because of its controversial concession policies, but mainly because of his rigid, autocratic style ( " Puttkamerei "), which among other things 1906 led to a petition of the Akwa - klanes to the " allerdurchlauchtigsten gracious German Reichstag Berlin ," which pointed out the abuses in Cameroon, Puttkamer came under considerable public pressure. Among other things, the colonial administration were accused under his aegis arbitrary expropriations, forced relocations, and a considerable degree of brutality. The imposition of draconian prison sentences against the signatories of the petition eventually led to a political scandal. Centre and the Social Democrats denounced the mismanagement Puttkamers, after which he was ordered back to report to Berlin, which equaled his deposition. The dismissal Puttkamers not based significantly on the above allegations, but on some smaller affairs, which he had been guilty of leave, such as a passport forgery in favor of a courtesan, with whom he was intimately acquainted. Jesko of Puttkamer was added on May 9, 1907 in temporary retirement and retired in 1908.

Writings

  • Governor years in Cameroon. Berlin 1912
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