Wikidata:WikiProject TheRoK/Research

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The research project "The Restitution of Knowledge" already identify 59 military expeditions undertaken between 1888 and 1902 by the German colonial military in Togoland and 181 of them led between 1884 and 1918 in Kamerun. Due to the enormous amount of information gathered for these two lists and to the difficulty in reconciling our tables with Wikidata, the project members have picked three exemplary case studies for modelling data in Wikidata.

We have therefore chosen 4 military expeditions during which colonial officers attacked African populations who would not submit to colonial rule and looted their cultural heritage. For each expedition, the project members selected at least 1 European colonialist, 1 African leader and 2 looted objects, today in the custody of German museums. The project members will either build on existing entities and link them to each other via metadata, or create new entities when these are found lacking.

Research wikidata precedents[edit]

Expedition 1: Benin Expedition of 1897
Instance of: punitive expedition; Part of: Scramble for Africa
What is lacking?: link to perpetrators, link to Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi, link to Benin Bronzes

Colonialist 1: Hans Dominik
Occupation: looter, explorer, military personnel, military officer
Colonialist 2: Hans Glauning
Occupation: colonial administrator, military officer, scientific collector, explorer, zoological collector
Cause of death: killed in action
Military branch: Schutztruppe of German East-Africa
Colonialist 3: Karl Adametz:
Occupation: looter, zoological collector, military officer

Looter: value-type constraint (!) Values of occupation statements should be instances or subclasses of one of the following classes (or of one of their subclasses), but looter currently isn't.

African leader 1: Hassan Bin Omari:
Occupation: revolutionary
African leader 2: Mtwa Mkwavinyika a.k.a. Mkwawa
Occupation: tribal chief, politician
African leader 3: Jacob Morenga
Occupation: politician, partisan
Country of citizenship: Namibia (!)
African leader 4: Ovonramwen
 Occupation: monarch

Group of objects: Benin Bronzes
 Significant event: Benin Expedition of 1897
Object with provenance on Wikidata: Nefertiti Bust
Owned by: ...

New case studies 19.06.2023  In progress[edit]

Expedition 1: Ngolo Expedition 1901
Anticolonial leader 1: Nakeli Nw’embeli
Colonialist 1: Paul Franz Adolf Lessner
Object 1.1: [Piece of the palaver house / ]
Object 1.2: Kopfaufsatzmaske
Object 1.3: ["Stool" / "III C 12708"]

Expedition 2: German military expedition against Dagbon (1896)
Battle: Adibo dali
Anticolonial leader 2a: Yaa Naa Andani II
Anticolonial leader 2b: Kanbon-Nakpem Ziblim
Colonialist 2a: Valentin von Massow
Colonialist 2b: Hans Gruner
Colonialist 2c: Gaston Thierry
Object 2.1: [Gboɣno Zipligu / headgear of a chief / Häuptlingsmütze / Kriegermütze]
Looted in: Adibo
Current location (04/05/2023): Leipzig
Museum: Grassi Museum Leipzig
Inventory number: MAf 00853

Object 2.2: [Gboɣno / bulletproof gown / Kriegsgewand]
Looted in: Adibo
Current location (04/05/2023): Leipzig
Museum: Grassi Museum Leipzig
Inventory number: MAf 00854

Expedition 3: Nso' 1902
Anticolonial leader 3: Fon Sembum II
Colonialist 3a: Hans Houben
Colonialist 3b: Curt Pavel
Object 3.1: Ngonnso'
Looted in: Kumbo
Current location (04/05/2023): Berlin
Museum: Ethnological Museum Berlin
Inventory number: [[1]]

Object 3.2: Ntara'
Looted in: Kumbo
Current location (04/05/2023): Stuttgart
Museum:Linden-Museum Stuttgart
Inventory number: 33548

Object 3.3: kava'/throne
Looted in: Kumbo
Current location (04/05/2023): Stuttgart
Museum: Linden-Museum Stuttgart
Inventory number: 33564

Expedition 4: Wute-Adamaua-Feldzug
Anticolonial leader 4a: Lamido Hammam Lamu
Anticolonial leader 4b: Neyon (Ngraŋ III)
Colonialist 4a: Oltwig von Kamptz
Colonialist 4b: Hans Dominik
Object 4.1: Bett/Thron
Looted in: Tibati
Current location (04/05/2023): Bremen
Museum: Übersee-Museum Bremen
Inventory number: B13897

Object 4.2: Kriegshemd
Looted in: Ngila
Current location (04/05/2023): Stuttgart
Museum: Linden-Museum Stuttgart
Inventory number: 17144

New case studies 24.10.2023  In progress[edit]

Proposed data model for events:

  • Overarching colonial war - described from anti-colonial and colonial perspectives
    • has part(s) (P527)/part of (P361): German punitive expedition - described as colonial activity
      • has significant event (P793)/part of (P361): Specific conflict resulting from the expedition - described from anti-colonial and colonial perspectives


Overarching colonial wars[edit]

Dagomba-German War (Q123173174) - NEW


konkomba resistance of German colonialism (Q123173426) - NEW

German Punitive expeditions[edit]

German military expedition against Dagbon of 1896 (Q119723768) - Created last time


German Military Expedition against Dagbon of 1900 (Q123173180) - NEW

Specific conflicts resulting from the expeditions[edit]

Adibo dali (Q2887801)


1896 German attack on Bimbila (Q123173209) - NEW

References added[edit]

This list is periodically updated by a bot. Manual changes to the list will be removed on the next update!

WDQS | PetScan | TABernacle | Find images | Recent changes | Query: SELECT ?item WHERE { ?item wdt:P5008 wd:Q119818925. ?item wdt:P31/wdt:P279* wd:Q732577. }
Article description publication date publisher DOI
A Drummer's Testament: Dagbamba Society and Culture in the Twentieth Century website recording oral history
Atlas der Abwesenheit: Kameruns Kulturerbe in Deutschland book published in 2023 (digital version) 2023 arthistoricum.net – ART-Books 10.11588/ARTHISTORICUM.1219
Atlas der Abwesenheit: Kameruns Kulturerbe in Deutschland / coordinated by Andrea Meyer and Bénédicte Savoy book published in 2023 2023 Dietrich Reimer Verlag
Museen, Missionen und koloniale Kulturgutverlagerung book chapter published in 2023 2023 10.11588/ARTHISTORICUM.1219.C17224
Remnants of ‘Adibo dali’ (1896) and the Plunder of Yendi in German Museums scientific article published in 2023 2023 10.1093/HWJ/DBAD011
»Cameroons« wird deutsch: Geschichte einer manipulativen Wegnahme book chapter published in 2023 2023 10.11588/ARTHISTORICUM.1219.C17217
»Nur mit Gewalt zu erlangen«: Militärische Gewalt und Museumssammlungen book chapter published in 2023 2023 10.11588/ARTHISTORICUM.1219.C17222

∑ 7 items.

End of automatically generated list.

Meeting notes[edit]

Meeting 04.05.2023[edit]

  • !!! always log in as "The RoK" when editing both the project page and Wikidata
  • gather references that will help with data modelling
  • organise a sprint for data modelling (expeditions, new entities for anticolonial leaders, new entities for the looted belongings, referencing statements and values)

Edit-a-thon with WMDE (19/06/2023)[edit]

Minutes of the sprint

- Value type constraint for looter as occupation, because it is a subclass of thief (see above).

Feedback - Comments section[edit]

In this section, we warmly invite members of the Wikidata/Wikipedia communities to comment, rant, cheer, or correct our work. Feel free to use the space.

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