Berlin confronts its colonial past while campaigners demand reform.

Sururu Mnyaka When Mboro left Tanzania for Germany over fifty years ago, he made a commitment to his grandmother that still motivates him today. Mboro assured her that he would bring the head of Mangi Meli, a Wachaga king from eastern Africa who was put to death by German colonists for defying their authority, back to Tanzania so the chieftain could be buried properly. The 73-year-old Mboro hails from the same region Meli dominated, close to Mount Kilimanjaro. The area was a part of German East Africa, a vast colony over three times the size of modern-day Germany, from 1885 until 1919.

A few years after arriving in Germany, Mboro discovered that Berlin had an area known as the “African Quarter,” whose street names were derived from German connections to the continent. He relocated to Heidelberg in 1978 to pursue a degree in civil engineering, and he currently resides in Berlin. Mboro claimed that when he learned that there was a street named Petersallee in honor of Carl Peters, the first imperial commissioner for German East Africa from 1885 to 1888 and possibly the impetus for the colony’s founding, his initial joy turned to fear. Mboro stated, “He (Carl Peters) liked to hang people just most of the time for his joy.” It remained Petersallee until August 23 of last year, despite a 1984 push to alter the name.

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