The German government plans to step up efforts to confront its colonial past but has firmly rejected the idea of paying reparations to former colonies. In a response to a Green Party inquiry, the government argued that reparations do not apply under international law, since no such obligations existed when the colonial crimes were committed.
Instead, Berlin points to the €1.1 billion support package it pledged to Namibia in 2021, intended for development and reconciliation projects over 30 years. Negotiations on how to release the funds are still ongoing. Most of the money is earmarked for infrastructure and development, with a smaller portion set aside for reconciliation efforts.
Germany once held colonies in Africa, Oceania, and East Asia from 1884 onward, though on a smaller scale than Britain, France, or Italy. In present-day Namibia, German forces massacred the Herero and Nama peoples—atrocities now recognized as genocide. However, the government stresses that no retroactive legal obligation for compensation exists, since the term “genocide” only entered international law in 1948.
At home, Germany is also moving to distance itself from colonial-era symbols. In Mannheim, four streets—named after Gustav Nachtigal, Theodor Leutwein, Adolf Lüderitz, and Sven Hedin—are scheduled to be renamed due to their ties either to colonialism or, in Hedin’s case, his support for Hitler’s expansionist plans.
