The Kamerun Expedition

Title

The Kamerun Expedition

Description

Photo print showing the main camp of an expedition in the German colony Kamerun with a handwritten description of the scene on the backside

Creator

Unknown

Rights

It has not been possible to identify or locate the rights holder. If you are the copyright holder or have information regarding rights to this image, please contact us.

Language

German

Date Created

1914

Place of Creation

Mbere Valley, "Alim Mbere Pan", Kamerun (former German colony)

Materials

Photo print on cardboard, pencil

Text

Description on the back, handwritten by Hedwig Elbert (English translation below):

„Ein Moment aus dem Expeditionsleben:
Standquartier in Alim Mbere-Pan.
Vor unserem Hause: Hans am Steine behauen. Ich nehme Tiere an die mir von einem Teil unserer Träger angebracht werden. Markus, der Malaye präpariert Vögel, ein Soldat bläst zum Sammeln (Trägerverpflegung) Waschmann wäscht. Rechts im Hintergrund kommt Dr. Lange gerade von einer Seitentour zurück. – Mitte im Hintergrunde unsere Milchkühe m. Kälbern ([?] gemolken) – Im Vordergrunde Träger mit ihren Schlafmatten auf dem Häuptern. Kommen gerade aus anderem Dorf wo sie Häuser f. uns gebaut haben, zurück. Rechts von ihnen Gestell z. Trocknen der Pflanzen.“


English Translation:
„A moment from expedition life:
Our main camp in Alim Mbere-Pan.
In front of our house: Hans is hewing stones. I receive animals that are brought to me by some of our porters. Markus, the Malay, prepares birds, a soldier blows to gather (porters' rations) washerman washes. In the background on the right, Dr. Lange has just returned from a side tour. - Center in the background our dairy cows with calves ([?] milked) - In the foreground porters with their sleeping mats on their heads. They have just returned from another village where they have built houses for us. To their right a rack for drying plants.”

Collecting Institution

Institut für Stadtgeschichte, Frankfurt a. Main

Inventory Number

V176/1123

Curatorial notes

This photograph was taken during an expedition to Kamerun (German colony at the time), which Markus Mailopu was part of. The expedition was led by Johannes Elbert, a geologist from Frankfurt, under the authority of the German Imperial Colonial Office. Elbert specifically requested that Mailopu would be part of his team as a taxidermist. Military conflicts after the beginning of the First World War forced an early termination of the endeavor. Mailopu and another expedition member, the geologist Dr. Lange, were drafted into the German Schutztruppe (protection force) as wartime volunteers. It is not yet known what happened to Mailopu after that.

Sources:
  • Elbert, Hedwig. 1916. "Das Ende Der Geologischen Kamerun-Expedition." Die Umschau. Wochenzeitschrift über die Fortschritte in Wissenschaft und Technik XX (15): 281–85.
  • Elbert, Johannes. 1925. "Berichte über die Kameruner Gouvernements-Expedition des Dr. Johannes Elbert." Mitteilungen aus den deutschen Schutzgebieten 33 (2): 127–142.
  • The [German] Federal Archives. Files R 1001/3369 and R 1001/3370.

Collection

Citation

Unknown, “The Kamerun Expedition,” The Mailopu Archive - Markus Mailopu and the II. Freiburg Moluccan Expedition, accessed September 28, 2025, https://www.mailopu.ethnologie.uni-muenchen.de/omeka/items/show/142.

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