Historic German statue falls as protesters link it to colonial past
A 125-year-old monument of Otto von Bismarck was knocked down in Frankfurt‚ with anti-colonial messages painted on it. The action happened during the 140th anniversary of a major African colonization meeting
In Frankfurtʼs Höchst area protesters took down a bronze statue of Otto von Bismarck leaving red paint over its spiked-helmet and face. The century-old monument got cut from its base on nov 15th with anti-colonial words written all over it
The timing matched the 140-year mark since the Berlin Meeting where european countries made plans about Africa. A web-post from unknown people said Bismarck started “rough take-over and use of the continent“ (which led to long-term problems for African people)
- Hard-right AfD member Frank Grobe called it left-wing culture attacks
- Right-wing paper chief said it shows anti-German feelings
- British MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy backed the protesters views
Similar things happened before - like in Hamburg where a mega-sized Bismarck statue got fixed-up for 9 million euros about 4 years ago; the city tried to change its meaning but couldnt do much because of rules that protect old stuff
The first German leader made some good things like joining German lands and making worker benefits but his colonial links make people mad now. Even though he didnt want colonies thinking they cost too much money his actions still helped europe take African lands
