»Looking back«

The First German Colonial Exhibition of 1896 in Berlin-Treptow

From October 15, 2021, the museums Treptow-Köpenick and Dekoloniale Memory Culture in the City are showing the fundamentally revised exhibition zurückgeschaut I looking back - The First German Colonial Exhibition of 1896 in Berlin-Treptow. It is the first permanent exhibition on colonialism, racism and black resistance in a Berlin museum.

125 years ago, from May 1st to October 15th, 1896, the »First German Colonial Exhibition« took place in Treptower Park. Politics, business and churches as well as ethnological and natural science museums were involved in the major event. As part of a discriminatory »Völkerschau«, 106 people from the German colonies were put on display in front of an audience of millions. Most of the participants were not aware that they were to be »exhibited« in Berlin in order to cater to racist stereotypes and colonial fantasies. Many of them resisted the role assigned to them: Kwelle Ndumbe from Cameroon bought opera glasses and looked back at the audience in Berlin. The Colonial Exhibition of 1896 is a central event in Berlin's global history and of particular importance for the history of its black community.

The permanent exhibition “Looking Back | looking back" is dedicated to the history and aftermath of the First German Colonial Exhibition.

The focus is on the 106 children, women and men from Africa and Oceania, their biographies and their resistance. In addition, the structure of the Colonial Exhibition and its historical context are explained. The new exhibition is the result of close cooperation between the Treptow-Köpenick Museums and the afro-diasporic and decolonial organizations of the project association Dekoloniale Memory Culture in the City. The redesign of zurückgeschaut | looking back was done by the studio visual intelligence.

The Treptow Museum is located on the 2nd floor of the historic Johannistel town hall, Sterndamm 102, 12487 Berlin. The exhibition will be open from October 17, 2021 as follows: Mon 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Tue 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thu 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Admission is free.
For guided tours through the exhibition, please contact : museum@ba-tk.berlin.de