The Matengo Highlands and the German Memories: The Cross Preceded the Flag

This paper investigated the memories of German in the Matengo Highlands from 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. This parish had founded outstations, health centers and a fleet of bush schools across the Matengo Highlands. When the British took over administration of the Matengo Highlands in 1916, the Benedictine missionaries continued providing social services until 1968 when indigenous church leaders took over the diocese from the German Benedictine missionaries. This study used exploratory survey which is appropriate for a historical study like this which requires a historical framework. The historical methodology was used in this study to collect, analyze and interprete data. The collection of data was done using a number of historical sources. Interview, oral histories and archival review methods and techniques were used for data collection, both primary and secondary historical sources were employed. The year 1968 was deliberately chosen in order to mark the end of German Benedictines influence upon conclusion of their ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the Peramiho diocese.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Not applicable

The datasets used in this study are openly available at [repository link] and the source code is available on GitHub at [GitHub link].