SHATTERED DREAMS AT KILIMANJARO

Traces the history of a group of 19th-century German Christians whose initial desire to bring the kingdom of God to Palestine eventually led to East Africa.

Formatted in the style of a high school textbook, this work exhibits some of the weaknesses frequently associated with the genre. The writing is informative but dry, and neither characters nor events are propelled forward with the help of a driving narrative force. That said, the book does delve into an unusual amalgamation of European, Middle Eastern and African history and provides a wealth of insight for anyone who comes new to the topic of German colonialism in Africa and the German immigrants known as the Templers. Committed to the prospect of creating God’s kingdom on Earth, the German Templers of the 19th century originally immigrated to Palestine, where they developed socially and economically viable communities primarily based on agricultural ventures. But as land grew scarce and economic opportunities dwindled, a new generation of Templers relocated from Palestine to the vast lands of Germany’s African colony in the area around Mount Kilimanjaro. There, the Templers repeated the economic and cultural successes they had fostered in the Holy Land, only to see their efforts fail as Germany embroiled itself in two successive world wars. There are many compelling stories to be told about these intrepid pioneers, from developing coffee plantations in the plains of Africa to enduring the deprivations of incarceration during times of war. The book is at its most engaging when the authors (themselves descendants of German Templers) allow the Templers to speak for themselves. The excerpts from diaries in which men and women describe their day-to-day lives are the most vivid passages in the book, and the many historical and family photographs offer a panoramic view of this bygone era.

An occasionally pedantic historical account whose pros nevertheless outweigh its cons, and which should be taken up by readers curious about a frequently overlooked moment in German and African history.