List of former German colonies

This is a list of former German colonies owned by states of Germany:

Holy Roman Empire and German Confederation

Brandenburg-Prussia

• Groß Friedrichsburg (in Ghana), 1683–1718
• Arguin (in Mauritania), 1685–1721
• Whydah (in present Bénin), c. 1700 (this Brandenburg 'colony' was just a minor point of support, a few dwellings at a site co-inhabited by British and Dutch)
• Saint Thomas. Leased by Brandenburg from the Danish West India Company, 1685–1720.
• Island of Crabs (Krabbeninsel in German) (Caribbean, now US), Brandenburg annexation in the Danish West Indies, 1689–1693
• Tertholen (Caribbean), Occupied in 1696

Duchy of Courland

Main article: Duchy of Courland

Further information: Couronian colonization

• "New Courland", (1637, 1642, 1654–1659, 1680–1690)
• Courlander Gambia
  • Fort Bayona, 1651-1660
  • Fort Jacob, 1651-1660
  • Fort Jillifree, 1651-1660

Free City of Augsburg

Main article: Welser family

• Klein-Venedig,1528–1545

County of Hanau

• Hanauish-Indies, Planned in 1669 but later canceled in 1672

House of Ascania

Main article: Frederick Ferdinand, Duke of Anhalt-Köthen

• Neu-Askania, 1828-1856

Habsburg Monarchy

Main article: List of former Austrian colonies

These were colonies of the Habsburg monarchy, part of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation realm until 1804, German Confederation from 1815 to 1848 and from 1850 to 1866.

• Banquibazar, 1719-1723
• Cabelon, 1744-1750
• Delagoa Bay, 1777-1781
• Nicobar islands, 1778–1783

German Empire

Main article: German colonial empire

Africa

Main article: German colonization of Africa

German colonies in Africa, 1914

The following were German African protectorates:

• German South West Africa, 1884 to 1915
• German West Africa, 1884 to 1915
  • Togoland, 1884 to 1916
  • Kamerun, from 1884 to 1916
  • Kapitaï and Koba, 1884 to 1885
  • Mahinland, March 11, 1885 to October 24, 1885
• German East Africa, 1885 to 1918
• Witu Protectorate, 1885 to 1890
• German Somali Coast, 1885 to 1888
• German Congo, 1884 to 1885
• German Katanga, 1886
• Gando Protectorate, 1895 to 1897
• Gulmu Protectorate, 1895 to 1897
• German South Africa, 1884 to 1885

China

These treaty ports were German concessions in China, leased to it by the Qing dynasty:

• Kiautschou Bay concession, 1898 to 1914
• German concession in Tientsin, 1895 to 1917
• German concession in Hankou, 1895 to 1917
• Chefoo, 1901 to 1914

Pacific

Map of German Colonies in the Pacific, 1914. Brown, German New Guinea; Orange, North Solomons; Red, German Samoa; Yellow, Other Pacific Territories

These were German colonies established in the Pacific:

• German New Guinea, 1884 to 1919
  • Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, 1885 to 1914
  • Bismarck Archipelago, 1885 to 1914
  • German Solomon Islands Protectorate, 1885 to 1914
    • Bougainville Island, 1885 to 1914
    • Buka Island, 1885 to 1914
    • Choiseul Island, 1885 to 1900
    • Shortland Islands, 1885 to 1900
    • Santa Isabel Island, 1885 to 1900
  • Nauru, 1906 to 1914
  • Northern Mariana Islands, 1899 to 1914
  • Caroline Islands, 1899 to 1914
  • Palau Islands, 1899 to 1914
  • Marshall Islands, 1906 to 1914
• German Samoa, 1900 to 1914
• Protectorate of the Marshall Islands, 1885 to 1906
  • Nauru, 1888 to 1906

Nazi Germany

• Netherlands, 1940 to 1945
• Norway, 1940 to 1945
• Belgium and Northern France, 1944
• Ukraine, 1940 to 1944
• Ostland, 1941 to 1945

See also

• Ernst Thälmann Island
• German colonial projects before 1871
• German colonization of the Americas
• Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty
• Klein-Venedig
• New Swabia
• Postage stamps and postal history of the German colonies

External links

• Media related to Former colonies of Germany at Wikimedia Commons
• German colonies (in German)
• WorldStatesmen