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By Ralph Klein & Kerstin Glathe
The city of Witten, nestled in Germany’s Ruhr area, often presents itself as a typical industrial town – forged by coal, steel, and hard labor. Yet beneath its working-class identity lies a less visible story: Witten’s prosperity, like that of much of Europe, was profoundly shaped by colonialism and exploitation overseas.
A recent episode of the Breddeviertel Podcast aktuell brought this uncomfortable truth into sharp focus. Hosts Kerstin and Ralph discussed how traces of colonial history remain embedded in Witten’s streets, institutions, and even in its everyday goods.
From Colonial Goods to Everyday Consumption
One of the first revelations is hidden in plain sight: the so-called “Kolonialwarenläden” (colonial goods stores). These shops once sold products such as rice, cocoa, coffee, sugar, rum, and tobacco – all imported from colonies under brutal conditions.
Today, these products are staples in German supermarkets, but their origins remain linked to slavery, forced labor, and the exploitation of colonized peoples. Even the retail giant EDEKA carries colonial traces in its very name: it began as the “Einkaufsgenossenschaft der Kolonialwarenhändler” (Association of Colonial Goods Traders).
Witten’s Colonial Landmarks
Though less obvious than in larger German cities, Witten still carries visible reminders of its colonial past:
- Former Colonial Stores: A notable example once stood on Casinostraße and another at Breitestraße 77.
- Johanneskirche: The Protestant parish spearheaded missionary associations that actively supported colonial ventures, raising money and spreading racialized propaganda.
- Street Names: Roads like Albert-Schweitzer-Straße and Robert-Koch-Straße honor figures whose legacies are entangled with colonial exploitation.
- Schloss Steinhausen: Purchased in 1850 by Jan Jakob van Braam, a Dutch colonial elite from Java, the castle became a local symbol of how colonial wealth flowed into Ruhr industrialization.
Robert Koch and the Dark Side of Medicine
The Robert-Koch-Straße in Witten seems at first glance a tribute to scientific progress. Koch discovered the tuberculosis bacillus and contributed to fighting cholera and malaria. Yet his colonial role casts a shadow.
In 1906, Koch conducted experiments in German East Africa, ostensibly to combat sleeping sickness. In reality, these efforts primarily served the German colonial administration’s goal: keeping African laborers healthy enough to exploit. His human trials often disregarded safety, with patients forcibly confined and subjected to dangerous treatments.
Such practices, as historian Wolfgang U. Eckart documented in “Medicine and Colonial Imperialism in Germany 1884–1945”, positioned Koch not just as a Nobel Prize winner but also as a participant in the darker side of colonial science.
Albert Schweitzer: Nobel Laureate and Colonial Paternalism
Similarly, Albert Schweitzer – remembered as the “jungle doctor” in Lambaréné, Gabon – has streets, schools, and hospitals named after him across Germany. While his medical work was pioneering, modern research by the University of Bern shows his worldview was deeply colonial.
Schweitzer considered Africans “childlike” and refused to train local medical staff, ensuring dependency on European doctors. His hospital operated under a segregated system, mirroring apartheid structures. Though not unusual for his era, these attitudes highlight how even celebrated humanitarian figures perpetuated colonial hierarchies.
The Dutch “Investor” Who Shaped Witten
Perhaps the most striking colonial connection is the story of Jan Jakob van Braam. Born in Java, he became wealthy through ruthless exploitation of rice and sugar farmers. When famine and mass death struck, van Braam fled Europe with immense “blood money.”
In 1850, he purchased Schloss Steinhausen in Witten. His investments in coal mines, steelworks, and bridges helped kick-start Witten’s industrial transformation. Alongside local elites such as the Berger family, van Braam played a decisive role in embedding Witten into the Ruhrgebiet’s industrial network.
This infusion of colonial capital transformed Witten from a town of subsistence farmers and small tradesmen into a hub of proletarian labor – but at the cost of generations condemned to harsh factory work, poverty, and exploitation.
Colonialism’s Long Shadow
The discussion in the podcast makes one thing clear: Witten’s history cannot be separated from colonialism. The Ruhr area’s industrialization was not just the product of local entrepreneurship, but also of capital extracted overseas under violent conditions.
Even today, the legacy lingers:
- Witten remains a working-class city with a weaker economic base compared to nearby Essen or Düsseldorf, where larger corporations and administrative centers concentrated wealth.
- The mentality shaped by colonial propaganda, missionary societies, and racist exhibitions left marks on local culture and perceptions of non-Europeans.
- Modern migration debates and ongoing demands for the restitution of looted art (such as artifacts from Togo or Namibia) echo unresolved colonial injustices.
Why This History Matters
Kerstin posed the central question: Is Witten’s relative prosperity – modest as it may be – built on the shoulders of colonial exploitation? Ralph’s answer was unequivocal: yes.
The structures of the colonial system provided Europe with goods, capital, and power, while leaving devastation in the colonies. Witten’s industrial rise, its transformation into an “Arbeiterstadt” (workers’ city), and even its cultural identity are inseparable from this history.
To confront this legacy, scholars and citizens alike must continue uncovering traces of colonialism in local archives, museums, and street names. Whether through renaming, contextual plaques, or critical public debate, recognizing this past is essential for a more honest understanding of Witten’s place in global history.
Conclusion
Witten’s story is not unique. Across Europe, cities small and large carry hidden colonial legacies. What makes Witten’s case compelling is how clearly it illustrates the chain reaction: from colonial plantations in Java, to industrial investments in the Ruhr, to the creation of a working-class society still grappling with inequality today.
Colonialism is not just distant history. It shaped the very foundations of modern life in Witten – from the sugar in a cup of coffee to the stones of Schloss Steinhausen.
