From its inception in 1884, a colonial service organization performed administrative functions (policy and management) for the executive arm of the imperial government. By order of Reich Chancellor
Leo von Caprivi on 1 April 1890, responsibility for the colonial service was with the Colonial Department (
Kolonialabteilung), still as a subsection in the German
Foreign Office (
Auswärtiges Amt), but led by a head of section answerable to the
Chancellor. By the law of 18 July 1896 the department further co-supervised the colonial military or protection force, the
Schutztruppe, with its headquarters (
Kommando der Schutztruppen) formerly billeted in the
Imperial Naval Office (
Reichsmarineamt). By the late 19th century the need evolved for a separate, higher ranking agency that shall report directly to the Reich Chancellor. A decree by Emperor
Wilhelm II of 17 May 1907 removed the Colonial Department together with the
Schutztruppe command from the Foreign Office and elevated it to a central authority in its own right, the
Reichskolonialamt, to be managed by a cabinet-level
Secretary of State. The new office was then physically relocated to a building on Berlin’s
Wilhelmstrasse No. 62 (demolished in 1938) near
Wilhelmplatz, where the Colonial Department of the Foreign Office had resided since 1905. The
Schutztruppe command structure was also reorganized and moved to Mauerstrasse No. 45/46, in close proximity of the
Reichskolonialamt location. This legislation represented a complete reorganization and was a direct response to the nationwide so-called
"Hottentot election", after allegations of colonial malfeasance, corruption and brutality (e.g. the
Herero and Namaqua Genocide in
German South-West Africa) surfaced in the German print media and culminated in the dissolution of the
Reichstag parliament. The shake-up subsequently involved extensive and wide-ranging personnel changes in civil service positions in the colonies. The newly established
Reichskolonialamt led by Secretary of State
Bernhard Dernburg reported directly to the
head of government, the Reich Chancellor.
Heads of the Kolonialabteilung in the Foreign Office • Friedrich Richard Krauel (1848–1918), in office 1 April 1890 – 30 June 1890 • Paul Kayser (1845–1898), in office 1 July 1890 – 14 October 1896 •
Oswald von Richthofen (1847–1906), in office 15 October 1896 – 31 March 1898 • Gerhard von Buchka (1851–1935), in office 1 April 1898 – 12 June 1900 • Oscar Wilhelm Stübel (1846–1921), in office 12 June 1900 – 16 November 1905 •
Ernst II, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1863–1950), in office 16 November 1905 – 5 July 1906 •
Bernhard Dernburg (1865–1937), in office 5 September 1906 – 16 May 1907
Reichskolonialamt secretaries of state •
Bernhard Dernburg (1865–1937), in office 17 May 1907 – 9 June 1910 •
Friedrich von Lindequist (1862–1945), in office 10 June 1910 – 3 November 1911 •
Wilhelm Solf (1862–1936), in office 20 December 1911 – 13 December 1918 •
Johannes Bell (1868–1949), Colonial Political Envoy at the
Paris Peace Conference from 13 February 1919 to 20 June 1919 ==Structure==