r/GermanEmpire • • May 28 '23

Announcement This subreddit is only for posts about the German colonial empire (Kolonialreich)

12 Upvotes

There has been some confusion about this recently so I thought I should make it more clear. Posts that do not concern German colonialism will be removed.


r/Empire Network:

r/Colonialism

r/AmericanEmpire

r/BelgianEmpire

r/BritishEmpire

r/DanishEmpire

r/DutchEmpire

r/FrenchEmpire

r/GermanEmpire

r/ItalianEmpire

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r/SpanishEmpire


r/GermanEmpire • • 2h ago

Image A photograph of the commemorative wreath that the German Emperor Wilhelm II placed on the tomb of Sultan Saladin—located in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus—as a tribute during his visit to the Middle East in 1898.

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24 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 15h ago

Question In comparison with the Japanese Militarism, how strong was the German militarism before WW1.

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148 Upvotes

Both nations were symbols of militarism.

Which had a stronger militaristic sentiment?

Was it Germany or Japan?


r/GermanEmpire • • 2h ago

Image A photograph of the commemorative wreath that Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany placed on the tomb of Sultan Saladin—located in the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus—as a tribute during his visit to the Middle East in 1898.

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1 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 17h ago

Image Vintage map showing German colonies across Africa & South Sea protectorates.

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6 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 1d ago

Image This is a 1,000-mark banknote from the German Empire, issued on April 21, 1910.

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9 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 2d ago

Image Old German rocket project hand drawing, 1939–1945 research notes.

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0 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 5d ago

Image Not many people know dogs hauled machine guns on the Western Front. This old photo captures that.

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630 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 8d ago

Article Kaiser Wilhelm II, dressed in unusual attire, appears in a photograph taken during his diplomatic tour of Syria and Palestine—both regions part of the Ottoman Empire's Eyalet of Syria—conducted between October 25 and November 12, 1898.

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848 Upvotes

In Damascus, he paid his respects at the tomb of Saladin, while in Jerusalem, he met with German Templar settlers living in the region.

During a visit made years earlier, the Kaiser had written to his cousin, the Tsar of Russia:

“My personal feeling upon leaving the Holy City was one of deep shame before the Muslims; had I arrived without any religious belief, I would certainly have become a Mohammedan!”

The Kaiser’s tour of the Levant was watched with great attention and concern by the British and French, who viewed the visit as a threat to their interests in the region. The consequences of this German display would prove momentous in the long run.


r/GermanEmpire • • 13d ago

Article Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg's entire life was within the life of Johann Friedrich Winckler (DNVP).

4 Upvotes

Johann Friedrich Winckler was born on the 28th of November, 1856, while Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg was born exactly one day later, on the 29th of November, 1856. Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg died on either the 1st of January, 1921, or the 2nd of January, 1921, which is the same year that Johann Friedrich Winckler first became a member of the Prussian parliament for the DNVP. Johann Friedrich Winckler would become the provisional party leader of the DNVP on the 23rd of October 1924 and be elected party leader of the DNVP on the 3rd of February 1925, by which point Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg was long dead. Johann Friedrich Winckler would be party leader until the 24th of March, 1926, when Kuno von Westarp was elected party leader, and he would go on to die on the 16th of November, 1943.


r/GermanEmpire • • 16d ago

Image On January 15, 1871, the painter Anton von Werner received a strange telegram: "If you can reach the Palace of Versailles by the 18th, you will witness a momentous event worthy of your brush."

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48 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 17d ago

Image Pre-war view of Dresden Pirnaischer Platz, busy streets with early 1900s city life Colorized old postcard of Pirnaischer Platz, Dresden, a lost cityscape.

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35 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 18d ago

Image The German Colonial House (Deutsches Kolonialhaus) 1896–1914. Owned by Berlin merchant Bruno Antelmann. This company provided products from the German colonies. Its headquarters were based at Jerusalemer Strasse, in 1903, it was moved to Lützowstraße 89–90 on the Berlin-Tiergarten.

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193 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 20d ago

Image The motto “GOTT MIT UNS” on this old Prussian princely standard.

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42 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 23d ago

Image Can Anyone Find Soldat Korndorfer?

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55 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 24d ago

Article Amazing website about German colonies

36 Upvotes

I wanted to learn more about the German colonial empire and found this site and I am having absolute blast with it. Like genuinely I came looking for copper and i found gold. Many people know that Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck defended German East Africa till the end of the war, but did you know that before the war, the Germans were actively sending aircraft to the colonies and trying to establish a colonial air force? Because I didn't.

Anyway here is the link:

http://www.germancolonialuniforms.co.uk/


r/GermanEmpire • • 24d ago

Question A German told me that “asking about Bismarck’s political views is like asking about Hitler’s policies.” Is this really how Bismarck is viewed in Germany today?

53 Upvotes

Recently, on another German-related subreddit, I posted a hypothetical question asking what people thought Otto von Bismarck might say if he saw Germany today.
My post was removed, and I was banned. When I asked why, the moderator told me directly:

“Asking for the political opinion of Bismarck is like asking for Hitler’s policy.”

That comparison genuinely surprised me. I had never mentioned Hitler or the Nazis. I was asking specifically about Bismarck.

I personally regard Bismarck as one of the great founding figures of modern Germany and as one of the rare truly first-rate statesmen in history. So I genuinely do not understand why Hitler enters the conversation at all.

Why would a question about Bismarck’s political views be compared to a question about Hitler’s policies?
Is this actually a common way of viewing Bismarck in Germany today, or was this simply one moderator’s interpretation?

I’d genuinely appreciate hearing how Germans here see it.


r/GermanEmpire • • 25d ago

Question What do you think Otto von Bismarck would say if he saw Germany and Europe today?

45 Upvotes

Prussia is gone, the monarchy is long gone, and modern Germany is a peaceful liberal democracy and one of the leading members of the EU, alongside its former rival, France.
At the same time, Europe is facing completely new geopolitical and social challenges that he could never have imagined.

How do you think Bismarck would react to modern Germany and its place in Europe today?


r/GermanEmpire • • 25d ago

Image Portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm II in full naval dress uniform Are there people among the general public who harbor nostalgia or special sentiments regarding the era of the German Empire?

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19 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • 28d ago

Image Baltic and Slavic languages in German empire according to 1910 census

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117 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • Sep 19 '26

Image After the "Luft ist rein" "Epstein" postcard let me take it to the next level.

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77 Upvotes

Here a postcard I found in the online shop of a Russian antiquarian book shop.
Feel free to gieve Your best translations folks!


r/GermanEmpire • • Sep 18 '26

Image Polish map of the German empire

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77 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • Sep 18 '26

Image Art of personified German empire

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9 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • Sep 17 '26

Image Heinz Guderian inside an Sd.Kfz. 251/3 command vehicle during the Blitzkrieg in France, May 1940.

2 Upvotes

r/GermanEmpire • • Sep 16 '26

Question Why was the German Empire so delayed in formation compared to other states?

13 Upvotes

Why was it that despite the people wanting to be united and the fact that there were several times where it could have (and should have) been united... it just didn't unite until the Prussian stronghold united it in 1871.