Ethio-German historical relations keep up eying shared benefits

There are numerous records related to the historic Ethiopia-German relations. Most of them have already been narrated in several books, numerous documents and publications. Still parts of the historic relations have remained unpublished.

It seems to be an infinite and countless subjects to deal with. Whatever the subject matter or which part of modern history it may be, scholars are bound to identify connections between Germany and Ethiopia in the past centuries. They can detect deep-rooted relationships between these countries.

However, it is difficult to find simple answers for the reasons that led to close relations between them. In general, one may refer to cultural and religious reasons for their closer ties. Religion seems to play a great role in tightening Ethiopia-German contacts. This is especially true to the Christian highlands that always reflected some similarities to that of Germany.

Historians reflect that several similar traditions, ideas, and beliefs in Europe could be observed in the Christian parts of Ethiopia. However, the country was remote enough that it seemed to comprise a fundamentally different and opposite entity. It was, therefore, fascinatingly striking. Christianity was linked to Ethiopia in some cultures and traditions. Ethiopian kings were believed to represent the religions within their kingdoms. Furthermore, in spite of the long distance across the Red Sea or the Nile route, Ethiopia was one of the few non-European countries which had been regularly sending envoys to Europe during the Middle- Ages. The aim of sending emissaries was the creation of associations between the Christian kings, and the conscription of European craftsmen to Ethiopia.

In the beginning, these contacts had been accepted mainly by southern European kingdoms. As a result of such contact, it had been possible to depict the tradition of the Three Holy Kings as a black African that had been associated with Ethiopia. There were also traditional Ethiopian scholars who lectured in Amharic at Berlin University and in Spain, Portugal, and some Italian domains.

However, there were also direct links with Germans as early as the sixteenth century as scholars of the Reformation began to take an interest in Ethiopia. It was known that an old Semitic language was being spoken in Ethiopia and that it was part of the oldest Christian areas of the world. Germany had an Ethiopian Geʿez manuscript printed in the same century and scholars were engaged with Geʿez alongside Hebrew and Arabic.

The map of Ethiopia and its neighbors with an Ethiopian inscription had been published in Germany during the seventeenth century. The Reformation movement, which was mainly directed against the supremacy of the pope and the ignorance of both priesthood and the people, also took interest in Ethiopia. In the same century, the German engagement with Ethiopia turned scientific. Ethiopian scholars had been invited to work together with the German scholars. This resulted in comprehensive works on the language and the history of the region. These had been marked by an exemplar precision, and founded Ethiopian Studies as a scientific field. To be referred to be especially Ludolf’s Historia Aethiopica of 1681 and his pioneering works on Amharic and Geʿez. Ludolf was also an influential teacher.

A German scientific expedition had been successful in collecting Ethiopian manuscripts in Egypt, which are today kept in Italy and Paris. An attempt had also been made to organize an alliance of Christian kingdoms, including Ethiopia, against the Turks. At the time Turkey was a superpower that had invaded the neighboring Austrian Empire. But the idea of such a political coalition came too early. All attempts of creating a direct contact through the help of a third party remained ineffective and unsuccessful. However, Christian Ethiopia had begun to attract the interests of the Germans. In line with a new philosophical discourse led by the Immanuel Kant, the earlier works of Ludolf were crucial for creating a positive image of Ethiopia in Germany.

In the latter centuries, Ethiopians visited Germany repeatedly, as missionaries, travelers, workers, and as university lecturers, diplomats, emigrants, and merchants. It is also of great interest to learn about the early German research expeditions, which reached Ethiopia in the early nineteenth century. The first expedition consisted of prominent natural scientists in the coastal region of the Red Sea. Scientific expeditions carried out meteorological, zoological and ethnographical studies in 1830-1834. The most impressive history of that time was certainly the one of the German group that arrived at around the same time. The scientific group identified numerous endemic plants for the first time and wrote useful reports on Ethiopia, which have given insights into the culture and the political situation.

The German scholars, writers, ethnographers, painters and others have shown scientific and professional interest in Ethiopia in the past century. They had served the kings of the country in their profession. They had, for example, built palaces and churches mainly in the northern parts of the country. They had also conducted expeditions into the different parts of the country. This was followed by publications of detailed ethnographic and cartographic research materials. These findings further led to expeditions in different localities and borderlands of Ethiopia. Consequently, Ethiopia has provoked the interests of diverse groups within the German-speaking area. Linguists and cultural scientists, missionaries, craftsmen, and emigrants had developed interest on Ethiopia. Today, Ethiopia is given priority among countries targeted by development activities of the German government.

In recent years, one achievement was the creation of the five volumes of Encyclopedia Ethiopica at Hamburg University which was published in 2003– 2014. Over 400 scholars have participated contributing over 4000 articles on biographies of historical personalities. They also wrote on languages, regions and ancient and modern settlements, ethnic groups and clans, religious traditions and cultural phenomena. They included historical events, Ethiopian manuscripts, ancient inscriptions, churches, mosques and other religious centers, etc.

Currently, a new chapter has just been opened, the outcome of which is not yet known. Studies are increasingly undertaken by local researchers that may give new perspectives. Currently, German–Ethiopian relations are more multi-faceted than they used to be.

Researchers have identified that there is a larger migration taking place in both directions. Moreover, there are numerous individual and official relations between various agencies and the two governments. Economically speaking, the German enterprises have been engaged in a number of activities that generated output and employment for Ethiopia.

 Germany helped in setting the Medical College in Gonder and during the great famine of the 1980s, the Menschen für Menschen organization gained special recognition for its assistance and its founder Karlheinz Böhm became an honorary citizen of the country. The GTZ has recently been successful in construction of cobbled streets, which are very useful and popular among Ethiopians.

The Ethiopian emigrants in Germany have registered remarkable achievements in various fields. In recent years, many Ethiopian universities have been assisted by Germany to develop and link them with the international academic world.

Recently, the leaders of numerous African countries arrived in Berlin to discuss closer economic cooperation with Europe. The “Compact with Africa” (CwA) conference focused on increasing private-sector investment in the African continent. It also focused on cooperation on sustainable energy supply. The conference was initiated by Germany during its G20 presidency in 2017. The aim of the conference was to enhance the economic framework conditions in the CwA countries with the objective of making them more attractive to private investors from abroad. Currently, thirteen African countries belong to this group and these are in alphabetical: Egypt, Ethiopia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia.

Other countries are also interested in joining the group. Thus, representatives from Angola, Kenya and Zambia are supposed to join the meeting in Berlin. The summit in Berlin is attended by the EU Commission, EU Council, France, and Netherlands. The host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, has met with several bilateral and individual leaders. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has invited the participants to lunch at Bellevue Palace.

Ethiopian PM has used the opportunity to have access to EU support for economic development of his country. Ethiopia has been able to win the confidence and support of bilateral and multilateral institutions. These institutions are in a position to support Ethiopia provided that it meets their normal conditions of development assistance. This will definitely enhance the flow of assistance to Ethiopia from the EU countries, especially from Germany. The historic and positive Ethiopia- Germany economic and social relations will continue for the benefit of all.

 BY GETACHEW MINAS

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2023

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