German South West Africa Police History

THE POLICE FORCE OF DEUTSCH SÜDWESTAFRIKA (DSWA)/GERMAN SOUTH-WEST-AFRICA (GSWA) 1894 TO 1915

Compiled by Wolfgang Witschas

Abstract

German South West Africa Police History – When Imperial Germany annexed the territory then known as Deutsch Südwestafrika (DSWA)/German South-West-Africa (GSWA), a small force of the army, the Schutztruppe were sent to the new colony to uphold law and order and provide protection for the few colonists.

Only in 1895 Schutztruppe soldiers were seconded to form a police force, Schutztruppen Polizei, which existed from 1895 to 1905 and in 1905 the “Kaiserliche berittene Landes Polizei” (Imperial mounted police force in GSWA) was formed to uphold law and order.

Key words

Deutsch Südwestafrika (DSWA)
German South-West-Africa (GSWA)
Schutztruppe
Nama
Herero
Nama chief Hendrik Witbooi
Major “Hauptmann” Curt von François
Herero chief Samuel Maharero
Schutztruppen Polizei
Kaiserliche berittene Landes Polizei
Imperial mounted police force

Historical Background of the German Colony of Deutsch Südwestafrika (DSWA)/German South-West-Africa (GSWA)

On 24 April 1884 Imperial Germany announced that the territory of Angra Penquena or Lüderitzland was under the protection of the German Empire.

Between October 1888 and July 1889, in the course of a dispute between the Nama Chief Witbooi and the Herero, there had been an expulsion of the German Commissariat and an interruption of German sovereignty in
Okahandja. The German Colonial Society
engaged Hauptmann Curt von François to provide security to the territory. In June 1889 he arrived with 21 soldiers, eight staff from the Imperial German Army the Schutztuppe and 13 volunteers, at the British-held enclave of Walvis Bay.

From 1889 to 1895 the the Kaiserliche Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika (DSWA) was to uphold law and order in the territory.
In 1893, only 220 men were deployed to German South-West-Africa in an effort to subdue the Ovaherero and Nama. Perhaps unsurprisingly given the number of troops deployed, it would ultimately be political machinations, rather than German military might, that would lead to the signing of “protection treaties” by African leaders like Samuel Maharero of Okahandja, or Hendrik Witbooi of Gibeon.

It would only be in 1894, a full ten years after the tradesman Adolf Lüderitz had originally requested protection from the German Empire for his ‘possessions’ along the coastline DSWA/GSWA that some invalid German troopers as well as a few Africans would be seconded as policemen to the colonial capital Windhoek, as well as in the coastal town of Swakopmund and in the deep south in Keetmanshoop. Assigned to act as clerks for the local administration, they were tasked with helping control the growing ‘urban population’ of settlers and Africans as well as the farm areas.

Establishment of a Police Force for Deutsch Südwestafrika (DSWA)/German South-West-Africa (GSWA)

Introduction

During their rule of the colony, from 1895 to 1915 the Germans established Police Forces, first the “Schutztruppen Polizei 1895 to 1905 and in 1905 the “Kaiserliche berittene Landes Polizei” (Imperial mounted police force in GSWA) to uphold law and order.

“Schutztruppe” on Police Duties: 1895 to 1905

Uniforms of the Kaiserliche Berittene Schutztruppe Polizei “Mounted Schutztruppe Police”

Before the formation of the Landespolizei in 1905, Schutztruppe personnel on police duties wore standard Schutztruppe uniforms (in Khaki or Corduroy) with a red sash over the right shoulder (although some photographs show it worn on the left shoulder).

Figure 1: Polizei-Unteroffizier
circa 1904-05

This uniform is based on a photograph of a Schutztruppe Polizei-Unteroffizier probably taken in about 1904-05. This Schutztruppe soldier serving as a police acting NCO wears the Schutztruppe 1896 Khaki Uniform with Südwester hat. The tunic’s piping and the Südwester’s hatband and edging are in blue for the Schutztruppe. Later Landespolizei in Khaki Uniforms did not wear the Schutztruppe’s piping. To distinguish him as being on police duties he wears a red sash over his right shoulder.

Curiously he wears what appears to be a rank chevron on a dark coloured armband on his left arm. One possibility is that this is a temporary promotion to Unteroffizier solely for use while on police duties, in which case the chevron would probably be in white metallic lace as used by the Schutztruppe. The colour of the armband itself is impossible to tell from the original black and white photograph. For the purpose of this illustration I have guessed at it being in blue, the usual colour of the backing to Schutztruppe rank chevrons.
The long riding boots are more commonly seen in photographs taken in the early 1890s and were usually replaced by the shorter jackboot style footwear by the turn of the century.

On his right side he has what appears to be a S71/84 bayonet with an other ranks bayonet knot in company colours.

These men appear to wear regular Schutztruppe uniform with Schutztruppe Südwester hats with the addition of a red sash for the mounted German and two Africans. The mounted German is armed with a Reichsrevolver pistol.

Photo © Frankfurt University Koloniales Bildarchiv

Kaiserliche Landespolizei

Uniforms: The 1907 Dark Khaki Uniform

Figure 1: Diensttuender Polizei-Wachtmeister

This uniform is based on a photograph of Diensttuende Polizeiwachtmeister Hermann Kratz of the South West African Landespolizei taken while on service in the Kalahari desert, mounted on a camel. He wears the 1907 dark khaki uniform. His rank is shown as a Diensttuende Polizeiwachtmeister with three brass pips on the collar and a thick band of lace edging the green shoulder strap. He wears dark khaki riding breeches, also probably privately tailored.

His Südwester hat has a larger than usual imperial crown badge as was often seen on officers privately tailored hats.

He wears the standard Sam Brown belt over his left shoulder and carries a Mauser G98 rifle slung in a rifle bucket attached to the camel saddle. Both the Schutztruppe and Landespolizei made use of numbers of imported camels in the Northern and Eastern deserts of German South West Africa.

Figure 2: Polizei-Wachtmeister

This uniform is based on a photograph of a Polizeiwachtmeister of the South West African Landespolizei taken in Windhoek in 1914. This uniform is similar to that of the previous figure except that he wears the rank insignia of a Wachtmeister (two collar pips, a thin strip of gold coloured lace around the shoulder straps and two bars of green cuff lace) and carries the Sam Brown style ammunition belt over his right shoulder. In this example as on several others, only the lower three pouches can be seen to contain ammunition, this may have been for comfort and to facilitate firing a rifle from the right shoulder. He carries a Roth-Sauer pistol in a holster on his belt.

His corduroy riding breeches were either manufactured in a lighter shade (variations due to private tailoring were common) or have faded badly in the sunlight.

Figure 3: Polizei-Sergeant is based on a photograph of a Polizeisergeant of the South West African Landespolizei. This figure shows the rear of the 1907 uniform. His riding breeches are of a shade matching the tunic. Note the attachment of the Sam Brown belt again with a Roth-Sauer Pistol in the holster.

Figure 4: Polizei-Sergeant

This uniform is based on a photograph of a Polizeisergeant of the South West African Landespolizei. This Sergeant wears the 1907 uniform with matching trousers, piped in green and the peaked field cap with hatband and piping also in green. He carries a sword with a Faustriemen sword knot, with a green knot and a white fringe. Note the non-regulation white gloves and the impressive medal display.

The first Landespolizei, formed in 1905 wore Schutztruppe Uniforms with Police Insignia. On 28th September 1907 a new dark khaki uniform was authorised for the Landespolizei.

Landespolizei: Tropical Uniforms 1907-15

Figure 1: Polizei-Sergeant

Windhoek

White and Khaki Uniforms with both white and khaki tropical uniforms were authorised for wear by the Landespolizei on 28 September 1907. They were the same cut as the 1896 Schutztruppe Uniform but without the Schutztruppe blue piping, shoulder straps and white metal buttons. Instead Landespolizei green shoulder straps, yellow metal buttons (with the imperial crown) and rank collar pips were worn as seen on the 1907 Landespolizei Dark Khaki Uniform. Matching white and khaki trousers could be worn with the tropical uniform, again without Schutztruppe blue piping.

The uniform is based on a photograph of a Polizei-Sergeant of the South West African Landespolizei wearing the white tropical tunic with the same Landespolizei rank insignia as worn on the dark khaki uniform, in this case a single rank pip on the collar and plain green shoulder straps showing him to be a Polizei-Sergeant. This Sergeant wears the riding breeches from his dark khaki uniform with reinforced leather inner legs, instead of the matching white trousers. He wears short brown leather boots and gaiters.

His headdress is the the peaked field cap worn by all ranks when not wearing the Südwester, in a matching shade to the dark khaki Landespolizei uniform with hatband and piping in green with a small imperial cockade at the front.

This sergeant carries a sword (unlike in the Schutztruppe, ranks as low as Sergeant were permitted to carry a sword in the Landespolizei) with an other ranks sword knot (“Faustriemen”) in green with a white band as was standard in the Landespolizei.

Figure 2: Polizei-Sergeant
Diamond Mining Area, Lüderitz

Tropical Helmets

Usually the Landespolizei Südwester and peaked field cap from the dark khaki uniform were worn with white or khaki tropical uniforms, however there were some areas of German South West Africa where the climate was so unbearably hot that tropical helmets were issued. The Landespolizei tropical helmets were cork, tall and covered with white cloth. They had a yellow metal imperial crown (the same as on the Landespolizei Südwester) above a small imperial cockade.

The first Landespolizei unit to be issued tropical helmets were serving in the diamond mining area. Diamonds were discovered South of Lüderitzbucht and mining commenced in 1907. To police the area there were several small outposts of Landespolizei across the South Western corner of the colony. In May 1908 they numbered 2 Wachtmeister and 22 Sergeanten with an unknown number of African Polizeidiener. By April 1914 this figure had grown to 6 Wachtmeister, 60 Sergeanten and 47 Polizeidiener.
The second was the Caprivi Strip- a long thin piece of land ceded by the British and added onto the German colony in 1890 as part of the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty. It had strategic importance but little other value. A police force was established there in August 1909. It consisted of 15 or so Polizei-Diener wearing East Africa Askari Uniforms, their German officers and NCOs wore tropical uniforms and both white and khaki tropical helmets.

Landespolizei Tropical Helmet

The helmet is of the 1891 Schutztruppe pattern in cork covered with white cloth. It has a yellow metal imperial crown (the same as on the Landespolizei Südwester) above a small imperial cockade. It was issued to the Landespolizei in the Diamond mining area south of Lüderitzbucht.

Photo from Internationals Maritimes Museum Hamburg © Mark Schellenberg 2016

Dark Khaki Tunic

The new tunic was authorised in the same style as the Schutztruppe 1896 Khaki Uniform but in a distinctive khaki brown, much darker than Schutztruppe uniforms. It had green shoulder straps and a green stand and fall collar. There were two slightly sloped pleated breast pockets and two straight unpleated hip pockets. Although the regulations stated that the Landespolizei uniform would be the same design as the Schutztruppe uniform the pockets of all the Landespolizei tunics I have seen in period photographs and modern collections have pointed pocket flaps, whereas the Schutztruppe’s were usually cut straight. There were six buttons down the front of the tunic, one on each pocket and two smaller ones holding the shoulder straps. All buttons were in yellow metal with the imperial crown. As with Schutztruppe uniforms, Landespolizei officers often wore tunics with slight variations in cut due to private tailoring.

1907 Landespolizei tunic

Landespolizei tunic buttons

Insignia

Rank insignia was shown in the form of lace on the shoulder straps, pips on the collar and green looped bars on the cuffs, although the cuff insignia was often omitted (see below for full rank insignia details). No specialist insignia has been noted.

Rank insignia on the collar

Trousers

Trousers were in matching dark khaki and were authorised to be piped down the outside seam in green. Riding breeches were in brown corduroy but lighter shades are commonly seen in period photographs.

Greatcoat

The Prussian Cavalry other ranks greatcoat in pale grey (see Schutztruppe Greatcoats) was authorised with Landespolizei insignia- green shoulder straps (with rank insignia) and yellow metal buttons bearing the imperial crown.

Litewka Tunic

From 1907 Schutztruppe Kord Litewkas were authorised with Landespolizei insignia- green shoulder straps and rank pips on the collar. They do not seem to have been commonly worn, though at least one photograph taken in 1913 shows a Polizeisergeant wearing a 1899 Schutztruppe cloth Litewka with Landespolizei insignia.

Tropical Uniform

Both khaki and white uniforms were authorised for wear by the Landespolizei in the style of the 1896 Schutztruppe Uniform but without Schutztruppe piping and insignia. Instead Landespolizei green shoulder straps, yellow metal buttons and rank collar pips were worn (see Landespolizei Tropical Uniforms Page).

Südwester Hat

A new type of Südwester hat was introduced for the Landespolizei along with the 1907 uniform. It was made from brown felt with a hatband of a paler shade of khaki and a small imperial cockade at the front. The brim of the hat was held up on the right-hand side with a brass imperial crown badge. Differences in the style and size of the crown were common due to privately variations.

Landespolizei Südwester hat

Imperial Crown from the Landespolizei Südwester hat

Cocade from the Südwester hat

Field Cap

A Peaked Field Cap was worn by all ranks when not wearing the Südwester. It was of a matching dark khaki colour to the 1907 uniform with hatband and piping in green and chinstrap and peak in black leather. The chinstrap was held at either side with a small yellow metallic button bearing the imperial crown. A small imperial cockade was worn in the centre of the hatband. Like most German peaked caps it was worn with a wire retaining loop that held the shape of the top of the hat.

Footwear

Brown leather boots were worn with matching gaiters by most Landespolizei. , although some photographs show the trousers being worn loose over the boots.

Gloves

Brown leather gloves were authorised but period photographs show white gloves were also worn on peacetime duties.

Personal Equipment

The standard personal equipment worn by the Landespolizei was in brown leather. It consisted of a bandolier with eight removable ammunition pouches (each holding a clip of five rounds, the shells of which protruded from the lower side of the pouch) worn over the left shoulder and attached to a waist belt on the right hand side, Sam Brown style. Some photographs show the bandolier worn over the opposite shoulder, several photographs show the upper pouches worn without bullets in them and at least one photograph shows the ammunition pouches worn upside down on the bandolier. These variations were presumably for ease and comfort and were not regulation. The bandolier and belt were could be worn without ammunition pouches when not on active duty. Both the bandolier with ammunition pouches and the belt could also be worn separately of each other.

Some photographs show the Landespolizei wearing Schutztruppe equipment and ammunition pouches (see Schutztruppe Mounted Equipment Page).

Weapons

The Landespolizei were armed mainly with pistols.
The 1883 Reichsrevolver and the Roth-Sauer Pistol were both in common use, the Luger P08 was also issued sometime after 1912. Rifles were also carried. The Landespolizei had a collection of different types of standard German rifles in their possesion- G71, G88, K88, G98, G98S and varieties of K98. They also had small supplies of S71/84, S98 and kS98 bayonets in their arsenals although these were not standard issue to the Landespolizei on duty.

Roth-Sauer Pistol

Rifle bucket for Camel mounted troops

South West Africa Campaign Medals

Unlike in the Schutztruppe, ranks as low as Sergeant were permitted to carry a sword. The sword issued from 1905 was similar to the Prussian light cavalry sabre. There were two types of sword knot worn, the “Faustriemen” for a Polizei-Sergeant and the “Portepee” for ranks above Sergeant, though Sergeants who had been of Portepee rank in previous services (such the Schutztruppe) were entitled to continue wearing a Portepee. From 1907 the Landespolizei Faustriemen consisted of a brown leather strap and a green knot with a white fringe. The Landespolizei Portepee was also carried on a leather strap often with yellow metallic lace along its length and had a closed acorn knot of white metallic thread often with a green upper part. It seems from period photographs that several variations on these themes were actually worn. Some Faustriemen and Portepee knots had a green and white flecked stem above the knot. From an order of 24 June 1909, the sword was no longer worn on active service.

Civilian Attire

The Landespolizei did not have a home uniform for wear in Germany. In fact, they were not authorised to wear their Landespolizei uniforms in Germany except for special occasions such as the Kaiser’s birthday parades. Usually when home in Germany they wore civilian attire. Civilian attire was also worn when onboard foreign ships en route to Africa, when on undercover duty and by the senior police officers (“Polizeiassistenten“).

Uniforms of Schutztruppe Officers and Officials attached to the Landespolizei
In addition to police personnel, there were about a dozen Schutztruppe Officers attached to the Landespolizei to oversee military matters and training. These officers wore Schutztruppe uniform and rank insignia. There were also three junior paymasters (“Unterzahlmeister“) attached to the Landespolizei, they also wore the uniform of a colonial paymaster rather than that of the Landespolizei.

The Last Landespolizei Uniforms

In August 1914 the majority of the Landespolizei were incorporated into the Schutztruppe and issued Schutztruppe uniforms. Only a few remained to serve as police in their 1907 uniforms in the North of the colony until the surrender of German South West Africa in July 1915. The Landespolizei uniforms were however worn after August 1914 by other units- the South African Free Corps Boer rebels that sided with the Schutztruppe of German South West Africa in 1914, the Afghan Mission of 1916 led by Oskar Ritter von Niedermayer and from 1929 up until the Second World War by the mounted police of Bremen with whom the tradition of the old Landespolizei was entrusted.

Rank Insignia for the German South West African Landespolizei

Rank insignia for the Landespolizei consisted of brass pips (four pointed square stars positioned diagonally, known as “Stern“) on the collars, lace on the shoulder straps and looped green lace bars “Abzeichenschnur” on the cuffs of the uniform. Many Landespolizei did not wear the green bars on the cuffs, in period photographs it is usually only seen on those posted in or near Windhoek.

Figure A- The “Polizist” or German police constable and “Polizeidiener” or African police servicemen had no pips on the collar, a plain green shoulder strap and no green bars on the cuff.

Figure B- The “Polizeisergeant” had one brass pip on the collar, a plain green shoulder strap and one looped green bar on the cuff (as mentioned above the cuff bars were not always worn). Most of the Landespolizei was made up of Police Sergeants, who were considered as colonial officials (“Beamte“) and whose rank was equal to that of a Schutztruppe Sergeant.

Figure C- The “Polizeiwachtmeister” had two brass pips on the collar, a thin strip of gold coloured lace edging the green shoulder strap and two bars on the cuff. The Wachtmeisters were mostly older and more experienced than the Sergeants and were often in charge of small police stations and in such positions were known as the Station Elder (“Stationsälteste“). It is reported by an eyewitness (Polizeiassisten Hans Rafalski) that only the Stationsälteste wore the two bars of lace on the cuffs, whereas other Wachtmeisters only wore one, though this has not been proven yet in photographs, partly because so few of the Landespolizei wore the green cuff bars at all.

Figure D- The “Diensttuende Polizeiwachtmeister” had three brass pips on the collar, a thick band of gold coloured lace with threads of red and black edging the green shoulder strap and one green bar above a gold lace bar on the cuff. There were only a few Diensttuender Polizeiwachtmeister. Each commanded a “Beritt” made up of an area containing several smaller police stations, hence they are also referred to as a “Berittführer“. The Diensttuender Polizeiwachtmeister also often served as the substitute head of civil administration for his area.

The senior police officers (“Polizeiassistent“) in the Landespolizei wore civilian dress and therefore did not display rank insignia. There were four or five Polizeiassistenten in German South West Africa in 1914, one first class (Polizeiassistent I. Klasse Hans Rafalski, the head of the police school in Windhoek) and the rest second class Polizeiassistent.

Period Photographs

Portrait Photographs of two Landespolizei Sergeants

The photograph above left shows Polizeisergeant Wilhelmi taken in 1911 wearing the 1907 Dark Khaki Uniform with green collar and shoulder straps. Note the single rank pip on the collar, showing him to be a Polizeisergeant. He wears two medals on his left breast, the more senior closest to his buttons is the South West Africa Campaign Medal with three clasps the other is presumably the 2nd Class Landwehr Service Award (see the Photograph of Polizei-Sergeant Wilhelmi Page for a full list of his medals and a more detailed study of this picture). Note the sword carried by Polizeisergeanten.
Photo © S Schepp originally printed in “Unter dem Kreuz des Südens“

Friedrich Wilhelm Wilhelmi (1883-1941) was born in Hanover and joined the 73rd Hanoverian Fusilier Regt (“Füsilier-Regiment Feldmarshchall Prinz Albrecht von Preußen (1.Hannoversches) Nr.73”) as a two year volunteer in 1902. From there he volunteered for the Schutztruppe in 1904, being promoted through the NCO ranks to sergeant by 1908 when he transferred into the Landespolizei retaining the rank of Sergeant. During the First World War he served again in the Schutztruppe as Sergeant der Landwehr, was wounded and received the Iron Cross, second class. After the war he returned to Germany to work in finance, then returned to South West Africa in the 1920s to work as a hospital administrator near Lüderitzbucht and eventually moved to Argentina in 1931 where he settled on a plantation until his retirement.

The photograph above right shows Polizeisergeant Mutschke again wearing the 1907 uniform with the rank insignia of a Polizeisergeant on his green collar and shoulder straps. He wears the Landespolizei Südwester hat with the Imperial crown badge holding up the right hand side just visible. Again note the pointed pocket flaps. His medals are the South West Africa Campaign Medal (with a clasp for “Hereroland”), the Prussian 9 year Long Service Award and the Landwehr Long Service Award, Second Class.

Wilhelm Mutschke (1876-1937) was born in Grünberg, Silesia (now known as Zielona Góra in Poland) and trained as a locksmith before joining the 153rd Thuringian Infantry Regt (“8. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regt. Nr.153”) in 1898. He transferred to the South West African Schutztruppe from 1900 to 1903, then again from 1904 as an Unteroffizier at Karibib. He joined the Landespolizei in 1905 serving at Onjossa and Erora, both in the Karibib District. He married in 1908 and had two children. During the First World War he remained in Karibib, returning to Germany with his family in 1919. Back home, he worked in the prison service and was an active member of the Former Colonial Police Officers Society, the “Verband der Polizeibeamten für die deutschen Colonies”.

Mounted Landespolizei Sergeant

The photograph above shows Polizeisergeant Horn again wearing the 1907 uniform with the rank insignia of a Polizeisergeant. He also wears the Landespolizei Südwester hat, note the imperial crown badge and cockade at the front. Note also his brown leather cartridge bandolier and rifle bucket.
Photo and information from his Grandson Dr Alexander Mayer on WikiCommons

Lorenz Horn (1880-1956) enlisted in the 6th Royal Bavarian Field Artillery Regt (“Kgl. Bayer. 6. Feldartillerie-Regiment Prinz Ferdinand von Bourlon, Herzog von Calabrien”) in 1900. He joined the Schutztruppe in 1904 and served throughout the Herero Rebellion, transferring to the Landespolizei in 1908. During the First World War he served in the 4. Feldkompagnie of the Schutztruppe and saw action at the battles of Sandfontein and Ghaub. After the Schutztruppe’s surrender he was interned at Gibeon, finally returning to Germany with his wife and children in 1919 or 1920.

Landespolizei Sergeants in Hoachanas 1909

This photograph was sent as a postcard by the man on the left, Polizeisergeant Rudolf Rogge. The two Landespolizei Sergeants on the left and right wear the 1907 dark khaki uniform with matching peaked caps all are faced in green. Note the rank pips on the collar and green cuff loops. The figure in the centre wears a white tropical uniform all details of which are dazzled out in this photograph. It is likely he is a member of the Schutztruppe judging from the different shade of his peaked cap and its hatband- his may be a khaki corduroy cap with blue hatband and piping. Note also that the Landespolizei have chinstraps on their caps while the Schutztruppe soldier does not.

Landespolizei and Veteran Reservists on Parade 1910

To the right of the photograph are the Landespolizei wearing 1907 dark khaki uniforms and Landespolizei Südwester hats. They are being inspected by the South West African Governor, Dr. Seitz. The photograph was taken on 14 November 1910. The men on the left in white tropical uniforms are Schutztruppe veterans of the Herero War.

Photo © Frankfurt University Koloniales Bildarchiv

Landespolizei in Training
These troopers wear the 1907 dark khaki uniform with green collars and shoulder straps, matching trousers and leather gaiters. They wear the Landespolizei Südwester hat and are armed with Kar88 carbines. Horses were trained to lie prone to provide cover for their riders under fire.

The Kaiserliche berittene Landespolizei für Deutsch-Südwestafrika (Imperial mounted police force in GSWA) was a police institution militarily organized and trained, but administered by the civil administration. Its members were civil servants rather than soldiers. The head of the police inspectorate in Windhoek, however, was a Major or Lieutenant-Colonel delegated to serve in the civil colonial administration, and under the colonial governor. Given that questions relating to the subordination of military personnel under civil rule were of utmost importance to German contemporaries, it is remarkable that in German colonies (except for the naval base Tsingtao, Asia) the civilian governor headed not only the administration (Gouvernement), but was also superior to the commander of the military (Schutztruppe), as well as to the head of the “Inspektion der Landespolizei” police inspectorate.
After several previous attempts with civil policing, a police force in DSWA/GSWA, distinct from the military, was formally founded in 1905. Based on plans made in 1903, and being founded during the wars against Ovaherero and Nama, this new police force was initially not to play a role in DSWA/ GWSA. As in previous years, the military continued to execute most of the police work; it would not be until 1907, following the formal introduction of the Emperor’s organisational ordinance, that the business of recruiting and actual police work would begin. The missions and duties of the colonial police force were to be similar to its law enforcing counterparts in Germany: securing public order, protecting the public’s welfare, and penalising perpetrators. In addition to these tasks, colonial police officers had to execute the so-called “native regulations” of 1907, which regulated the carrying of official passes by Africans, as well as their obligation to work and to be registered with the local administration; stipulations similar to those found in the neighbouring Cape Colony and Transvaal.

As stated above, the police inspectorate was a division within the Colonial Governorate of the territoy, which was in turn subordinate to the Imperial Colonial Office (Reichskolonialamt) in Berlin. The police force was to comprise around 500 former non-commissioned military officers (the military imprint of police officers was common in Imperial Germany, and in this case it was required that the prospective police officers had served in the colonial forces or German army for at least six years) and 370 African “Polizeidiener”/police servants. These policemen would be deployed in up to 110 police stations within, and at the fringes of, an established “police zone”. This “police zone” was an area within DSWA/ GSWA (around 60% of the territory, excluding the northern periphery of the colony (present Kaokoland, Ovamboland and Okavango, as well as parts of the Kalahari and Namib desert) where European settlers were allowed to own land. With the German parliament passing cutbacks in colonial budgets, the intended expansion of colonial police capacity would be hindered: of the 720 German police sergeants planned for 1907, barely 450 could be actually budgeted for in 1913 (next to approximately 1,900 soldiers).

Despite continuous pressure on its budget, the above force would have to police the roughly 14,000 European settlers, mostly of German origin, that lived within GSWA by 1913. The precise number of Africans within the “police zone” of GSWA is hard to estimate.
The colonial authorities regarded brute force against (potential) insurgents as both ‘necessary’ and ‘justifiable’. Similar to practices in Germany during strikes and other forms of civil unrest, the colonial military remained the last resort for the governorate to ensure internal peace. The distinction between military and police tasks in DSWA/GSWA was far less clear; a situation similar to those found in British colonial institutions of the time. This problem was reflected in the German colonial military law of 1896, which referred the maintenance “of public order and security” (i.e. police tasks) to the military. Since colonial police and military forces were fulfilling similar functions in maintaining internal security, the colonial administrators of DSWA/GSWA began to discuss a potential merger of the two security institutions in 1909; an initiative largely intended as a cost cutting measure. However, no decision on the creation of a “Gendarmerie” would be reached until 1915.

Indeed, the view held by senior police officials that the “main task” of GSWA’s policemen was “to control and oversee the natives” became a defining aspect of the relations between the colony’s police force
the Landespolizei included both German officers and African assistants, and it had expansive responsibilities and equally expansive powers. In addition to preventing and investigating crime—a relatively minor part of their daily tasks—policemen conducted censuses; maintained fences and boreholes; registered births, marriages, and deaths; issued alcohol licenses; and collected dog taxes. They also rounded up and distributed the pool of semi-free African laborers, greatly diminished in numbers by the genocide, deciding which farmers were worthy of getting the laborers they requested and which were not.

The interracial makeup of South West Africa’s colonial police force is fairly unique. Initially imagined as an all-German force, the Landespolizei was forced to incorporate Africans who could serve as translators, guides, and intermediaries. One of Muschalek’s most interesting arguments is that German and African policemen shared certain traits: both were recruited from vanishing economic sectors (artisans in the case of the Germans, independent pastoral patriarchs in the case of the Africans) and both were driven by ideas about honour, masculinity, and status. Although German police officers made higher wages than their African assistants, African members of the police were allowed to keep livestock and engage in other forms of economic activity, while German police had to live solely from their salary—a fact that reduced differences in the two groups’ material conditions. African policemen were frequently written out of the colonial record, not surprisingly. But the Landespolizei’s reliance on African policemen—who were feared to be better marksmen and more professional as policemen than German officers, and who were “the linchpin of policing” constantly threatened the racial hierarchy.

Epilog Kaiserliche Landes Polizei

Being only formally founded in 1905, the police force of GSWA had duties similar to those of the police within Germany to secure public order and the public’s welfare, as well as to penalise perpetrators. Looking at the short history of the colonial force of G SWA (1894-1915), it can be concluded that its creation was most of all a symbol of ‘normalisation’. DSWA/GSWA was intended to become a settler colony, similar to British South Africa; as a result, the growing number of settlers in the colony could not be policed by the military, given the custom in Imperial Germany to only use soldiers for police tasks during riots or other emergencies.

This force was founded in 1905, in the midst of wars of annihilation (1904–08) that the German army waged against the indigenous populations of South West Africa who had taken up arms and rebelled to fight against colonial oppression, dispossession and settler intrusion.

References

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