The Matengo Highlands and the German Memories: the Cross Preceded the Flag
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London Journals Press
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This paper investigated the memories of German in the Matengo Highlands from the 1890s to 1968. The
periodization has been made deliberately in order to cover the period of the German rule and the Benedictine
missionaries also from Germany. The German period is very special by considering the fact that the
missionaries who established Christianity in the Matengo Highlands were Benedictine whose nationality was
German. The work has investigated what were the circumstances which pushed the Benedictines to come to
German East Africa and specifically the Matengo Highlands. Upon arriving in German East Africa, the study
investigated the relationship that existed between the German colonial state and the Benedictine missionaries
and how this relationship affected the Wamatengo people. The paper concludes that unlike the other parts of
Tanzania the memories of Germans both missionaries and the colonial masters are all bearing some legacies
in the Matengo Highlands to 1968. However, colonial administration was so short lived (1902-1916) and less
entrenched. To the contrary, the cross preceded the flag in the sense that German Benedictine missionaries
founded the first parish mission at Kigonsera in 1899.
Keywords
German Rule