Tending to the Sick and Wounded – Nursing during German Colonialism in Namibia
Organisers: The Jane Katjavivi Archives Restoration Project in the ELCRN
Date & Time: 25 June 2024, 18:30
Venue: ELCRN – Friedenskirche, 6 Church St, entrance Konrad St. opposite DHPS, Windhoek
Objective: Presentation of findings of the research project ‘Krankenpflege in der Kolonialgeschichte Deutschlands (Nursing in the colonial history of Germany)’
Project members: Students of the Master’s degree programme in Nursing Science/Nursing Management under the direction of Prof. Dr Olaf Scupin at the Department of Health Management, Ernst-Abbé-Hochschule Jena, University of Applied Sciences, Jena, Germany
Moderator: Dr Wolfram Hartmann
Background of the project
On 31 January 2023, the members of the project presented the first findings of their research. Their talk at the Ernst-Abbé-Hochschule Jena was entitled ‘Völkermord und Krankenpflege in Deutsch-Südwestafrika – Vortrag über Forschungsreise nach Namibia (Genocide and nursing in German South West Africa – lecture on research trip to Namibia)’. In the announcement of the event on the website of Informationsdienst Wissenschaft (Science Information Service; last checked in July 2024) the background to the project was described as follows (translated into English):
“At the Faculty of Health and Nursing at the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena, a group of students on the Master’s degree programme in Nursing Science/Nursing Management, led by Prof. Dr Olaf Scupin, are researching the role of nursing in Germany’s colonial history.
In May 2021, the Bundestag and the Federal Government of the Federal Republic of Germany recognised the genocide of the Herero and Nama. The worst atrocities were committed by German colonial troops in the former German colony of German South West Africa, now Namibia. The Herero and Nama were not only interned in the concentration camps set up, but these camps were also used to organise forced labour. Death and disease were the order of the day in the camps. Medics, guards, nurses from the missions, but also secular nurses worked in the army hospitals, prison camps and hospitals.
After extensive research in German archives (including the DRK [German Red Cross] Archive, the Archive of the Rhenish Mission, the Bundeswehr Archive, the Colonial Archive and the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine), a student research group visited the first archives in Namibia in June 2022. Among others, the archives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Namibia, the National Archives and the archives of the Scientific Societies in Windhoek and Swakopmund were visited. (…) The project is helping to close gaps in historical nursing research.
(…).”
Original German text:
“Am Fachbereich Gesundheit und Pflege der Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena forscht eine Gruppe von Studierenden des Masterstudiengangs Pflegewissenschaft/Pflegemanagement unter Leitung von Prof. Dr. Olaf Scupin zur Rolle der Krankenpflege in der Kolonialgeschichte Deutschlands.
Im Mai 2021 hat der Bundestag und die Bundesregierung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland den Völkermord an den Herero und Nama anerkannt. In der ehemaligen deutschen Kolonie Deutsch-Südwestafrika, dem heutigen Namibia, wurden durch deutsche Kolonialtruppen schlimmste Gräueltaten angerichtet. In den eingerichteten Konzentrationslagen wurden die Herero und Nama nicht nur interniert, sondern diese Lager dienten auch der Organisation von Zwangsarbeit. Tod und Krankheit war an der Tagesordnung in den Lagern. Sanitäter, Wärter, Krankenschwestern der Missionen, aber auch weltliche Krankenschwestern waren in den Lazaretten der Armee, den Gefangenenlagern und Krankenhäusern tätig.
Nach einer breiten Recherche in bundesdeutschen Archiven (unter anderem im DRK-Archiv, Archiv der Rheinischen Mission, Bundeswehrarchiv, Kolonialarchiv, Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin) besuchte eine studentische Forschungsgruppe im Juni 2022 erste Archive in Namibia. So wurden u.a. das Archiv der evangelisch-lutherische Kirche von Namibia, das Nationalarchiv sowie die Wissenschaftlichen Gesellschaften in Windhoek und Swakopmund besucht. (…) Das Projekt trägt dazu bei, Lücken in der historischen Pflegeforschung zu schließen.
(…).”
Editor’s note:
The presentation ‘Tending to the Sick and Wounded – Nursing during German Colonialism in Namibia’ took place in front of around 50 visitors.
The presenters mainly focussed on nursing facilities and biographies of various women who worked as nurses during the German colonial period in Namibia. According to their research, the data on nursing in German South West Africa in the archives they visited proved to be rather sparse. The contribution of nursing to the colonisation of the country was only marginally addressed.
In the subsequent discussion, younger OvaHerero asked in what way the research results presented were relevant for today’s Namibia. They also criticised the fact that the findings were not placed in the context of the genocide.
The specific question of whether the German nurses also treated injured or sick OvaHerero and Nama remained unanswered.
Invitation of The Jane Katjavivi Archives Restoration Project in the ELCRN to the talk ‘Tending to the Sick and Wounded – Nursing during German Colonialism in Namibia’ by students and lecturers of the Ernst-Abbé-Hochschule Jena on 25 June 2024 in Windhoek, circulated via e-mail. Poster: Screenshot of the mail in dark mode