ABSTRACT
The apology for Germany’s lack of intercultural competence repeats a still prevalent public narrative: Germany was no, or at least no real, colonial power.3
If German colonialism is mentioned at all, it is often declared to have been of little consequence, since it was so short-lived.4 It was the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa (August 31-September 7, 2001), that finally brought German media attention to the immense destruction caused by the slave trade and colonialism and to the fears of reparation claims on the side of the United States and European colonial powers. Breaking with a long tradition of denial, Secretary of State Joschka Fischer spoke of the necessity to accept guilt and responsibility for the German participation in the colonial scheme, while at the same time carefully avoiding any statement that might serve as a reference point for legal claims.5 It remains to be seen whether this rhetorical gesture will have long-term consequences such as a general awareness of racial policies that precede National Socialism. In the heated debates on membership in German society, the colonial experience with its creation of a racial matrix still mostly speaks as an absence.6
