Bruno Mencke: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
→top: rewrote phrase for sake of accuracy |
Moving from Category:German explorers to Category:20th-century German explorers Diffusing per WP:DIFFUSE and/or WP:ALLINCLUDED using Cat-a-lot |
||
| (2 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Bruno Mencke''' ( |
'''Bruno Mencke''' (1876–2 April 1901) was a wealthy German explorer and collector. Born in [[Braunschweig]] to Eberhard (a wealthy chocolate manufacturer) and Charlotte (née Wittekop), he was famous for undertaking the '''First German South Sea Expedition''' at the age of 24. He fitted out his 300-ton steam yacht ''Eberhard''—purchased from the Prince of Monaco—and sailed to [[German New Guinea]] (the [[Bismarck Archipelago]]), accompanied by naturalists and anthropologists, including [[Oskar Heinroth]], Paul Kothe, and Georg Duncker. After reaching [[Kokopo|Herbertshōhe]], he brought on board a former German colonial official, Ludwig Caro, as a secretary. |
||
On 31 March 1901 his yacht was anchored in a bay and the crew had camped in tents on an island. The camp was attacked by locals with spears. Mencke's men used firearms to repel the attack but Caro was speared through and killed along with a few other crew while many members were injured. It was claimed in the newspapers that the bodies were later found to be eaten by the local cannibals.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10548418|title=The murder of Herr Mencke. Close of a Romantic career.|date=1901-05-01|newspaper=The Argus|page=4}}</ref> Mencke himself died from injuries on 2 April and was buried |
On 31 March 1901, his yacht was anchored in a bay and the crew had camped in tents on an island. The camp was attacked by locals with spears. Mencke's men used firearms to repel the attack, but Caro was speared through and killed along with a few other crew while many members were injured. It was claimed in the newspapers that the bodies were later found to be eaten by the local cannibals.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/10548418|title=The murder of Herr Mencke. Close of a Romantic career.|date=1901-05-01|newspaper=The Argus|page=4}}</ref> Mencke himself died from injuries on 2 April and was buried in [[St Matthias Islands|St. Matthias]]. The ornithologist Oskar Heinroth was injured but survived and wrote several papers on the findings from the expedition. A bird species, the [[Mussau monarch]], ''Symposiachrus menckei'', was named after Mencke.<ref>{{cite journal|title=German Collectors in South-west New Britain, 1884—1914| first1=Chantal| last1= Knowles| first2= Chris |last2=Gosden |first3=Heide |last3=Lienert| journal=Pacific Arts|volume=21/22|year=2000| issue=21/22|pages=39–52| jstor=23411113}}</ref> |
||
A punitive expedition was launched in 1901 by the German colonial forces under (later Admiral) [[Max von Grapow]], which killed about 80 native islanders, including women and children. In 1903, the tomb of Mencke was visited by |
A punitive expedition was launched in 1901 by the German colonial forces under (later Admiral) [[Max von Grapow]], which killed about 80 native islanders, including women and children. In 1903, the tomb of Mencke was visited by governor [[Albert Hahl]] and found to have been dug up and damaged with only a maxilla with molars remaining that was identified as belonging to Mencke based on the gold fillings.<ref>{{Cite book|first1=Richard |last1=Parkinson|title=Thirty years in the South Seas: Land and People, Customs and Traditions in the Bismarck Archipelago and on the German Solomon Islands |publisher=University of Hawaii Press|year=1999|pages=139–140}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Governor in New Guinea| author=Hahl, Albert|editor=Sack, Peter G.|translator=Clark, Dymphna|year=1980| publisher=Australian National University|place=Canberra|page=101|url=http://pacificinstitute.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/resources-links/ANU_Press_Albert_Hahl_Governor_in_New_Guinea.pdf}}</ref> |
||
==References == |
==References == |
||
| Line 15: | Line 15: | ||
[[Category:1876 births]] |
[[Category:1876 births]] |
||
[[Category:1901 deaths]] |
[[Category:1901 deaths]] |
||
[[Category:German explorers]] |
[[Category:20th-century German explorers]] |
||
[[Category:German people in German New Guinea]] |
[[Category:German people in German New Guinea]] |
||
Latest revision as of 14:40, 19 November 2024
Bruno Mencke (1876–2 April 1901) was a wealthy German explorer and collector. Born in Braunschweig to Eberhard (a wealthy chocolate manufacturer) and Charlotte (née Wittekop), he was famous for undertaking the First German South Sea Expedition at the age of 24. He fitted out his 300-ton steam yacht Eberhard—purchased from the Prince of Monaco—and sailed to German New Guinea (the Bismarck Archipelago), accompanied by naturalists and anthropologists, including Oskar Heinroth, Paul Kothe, and Georg Duncker. After reaching Herbertshōhe, he brought on board a former German colonial official, Ludwig Caro, as a secretary.
On 31 March 1901, his yacht was anchored in a bay and the crew had camped in tents on an island. The camp was attacked by locals with spears. Mencke's men used firearms to repel the attack, but Caro was speared through and killed along with a few other crew while many members were injured. It was claimed in the newspapers that the bodies were later found to be eaten by the local cannibals.[1] Mencke himself died from injuries on 2 April and was buried in St. Matthias. The ornithologist Oskar Heinroth was injured but survived and wrote several papers on the findings from the expedition. A bird species, the Mussau monarch, Symposiachrus menckei, was named after Mencke.[2]
A punitive expedition was launched in 1901 by the German colonial forces under (later Admiral) Max von Grapow, which killed about 80 native islanders, including women and children. In 1903, the tomb of Mencke was visited by governor Albert Hahl and found to have been dug up and damaged with only a maxilla with molars remaining that was identified as belonging to Mencke based on the gold fillings.[3][4]
References
[edit]- ^ "The murder of Herr Mencke. Close of a Romantic career". The Argus. 1901-05-01. p. 4.
- ^ Knowles, Chantal; Gosden, Chris; Lienert, Heide (2000). "German Collectors in South-west New Britain, 1884—1914". Pacific Arts. 21/22 (21/22): 39–52. JSTOR 23411113.
- ^ Parkinson, Richard (1999). Thirty years in the South Seas: Land and People, Customs and Traditions in the Bismarck Archipelago and on the German Solomon Islands. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 139–140.
- ^ Hahl, Albert (1980). Sack, Peter G. (ed.). Governor in New Guinea (PDF). Translated by Clark, Dymphna. Canberra: Australian National University. p. 101.