Heinrich Barth
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Barth was a German
explorer of Africa
and scholar.
Barth is one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, not necessarily because of the length of his travels (1850–1855) or the time he spent alone without European company in Africa, but because of his singular character.
. He was educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums
and studied at the Berlin University, where he graduated in 1844. He had already visited Italy
and Sicily
and had formed a plan to journey through the Mediterranean countries. After studying Arabic
in London
, he set out on his travels in 1845. He acted for the British Foreign Office in 1850.
, Barth made his way overland throughout the length of North Africa
. He also traveled through Egypt
, ascending the Nile
to Wadi Halfa
and crossing the desert to Berenice
. While in Egypt he was attacked and wounded by robbers. Crossing the Sinai peninsula
, he traversed Palestine
, Syria
, Asia Minor
, Turkey
and Greece
, everywhere examining the remains of antiquity; and returned to Berlin
in 1847. For a time he was engaged there as Privatdozent
, and in preparing for publication the narrative of his Wanderungen durch die Küstenländer des Mittelmeeres, which appeared in 1849.
, the Prussia
n ambassador to Westminster, and scientists like Alexander von Humboldt
, Barth and Adolf Overweg
, a Prussian astronomer, were appointed colleagues of James Richardson
, an explorer of the Sahara
who had been selected by the British government to open up commercial relations with the states of the central and western Sudan
. The party left Marseilles in late 1849, and then left Tripoli
early in 1850, with great difficulty and danger crossing the Sahara Desert.
The deaths of Richardson (March 1851) and Overweg (September 1852), victims of the climate, left Barth to carry on the mission alone. Barth was the first Europe
an to visit Adamawa
in 1851. When he returned to Tripoli in September 1855, his journey had extended over 24° of latitude
and 20° of longitude
, from Tripoli in the north to Adamawa and Cameroon
in the south, and from Lake Chad
and Bagirmi in the east to Timbuktu
(September 1853) in the west — upward of 12000 miles (19,312.1 km). He studied minutely the topography
, history
, civilizations, languages, and resources of the countries he visited.
His success as an explorer and historian of Africa was based both on his patient character and his scholarly education. He studied in the early 1840s at the University of Berlin under the guidance of scholars such as Alexander von Humboldt
, Leopold von Ranke
, Friedrich von Schelling and Jakob Grimm, who all laid the foundations of human geography and historical research in the modern sense.
Barth was different from the explorers of the colonial age, because he was interested in the history and culture of the Africans peoples, rather than the possibilities to exploit them. He meticulously documented his observations, and his own journal has become an invaluable source for the study of 19th century Sudanic Africa. Although Barth was not the first European visitor who paid attention to the local oral traditions, he was the first who seriously considered its methodology and usability for historical research. Barth was the first truly scholarly traveler in West Africa. Earlier ones such as René Caillié, Dixon Denham
and Hugh Clapperton
had no academic knowledge. Barth could read Arabic and was able to investigate the history of some regions, particularly the Songhay empire. He also seems to have learned some African languages
. He established close relations with a number of African scholars and rulers, from Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi
in Bornu
, through the Katsina
and Sokoto
regions to Timbuktu, where his friendship with Ahmad al-Bakkai al-Kunti
led to his staying in his house and receiving protection from an attempt to seize him.
and German
, under the title Reisen und Entdeckungen in Nord- und Zentralafrika (Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa; 1857–1858, 5 vols., approx. 3,500 pages). It was considered one of the finest works of its kind at the time, being cited by Darwin
, and it is still used by African historians, as it remains an important scientific work on African cultures of the age and a source for historians of West Africa.
, Barth himself received no formal recognition of his services from the British government. He returned to Germany
, where he prepared a collection of Central African vocabularies (Gotha, 1862–1866). In 1858 he undertook another journey in Asia Minor, and in 1862 visited the Turkish provinces in Europe. In the following year he was granted a professorship of geography (without chair or regular pay) at Berlin University and appointed president of the Geographical Society. His admission to the Prussian Academy of Sciences
was denied, as it was claimed that he had achieved nothing for historiography
and linguistics. Barth died in Berlin. His grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof III der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde (Cemetery No. III of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church
and New Church
) in Berlin-Kreuzberg
, south of Hallesches Tor
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
explorer of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and scholar.
Barth is one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, not necessarily because of the length of his travels (1850–1855) or the time he spent alone without European company in Africa, but because of his singular character.
Biography
Barth was born in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. He was educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums
Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums
The Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums is a Gymnasium in Hamburg, Germany. It is Hamburg's oldest school and was founded in 1529 by Johannes Bugenhagen. The school's motto is The Future needs a Heritage...
and studied at the Berlin University, where he graduated in 1844. He had already visited Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and had formed a plan to journey through the Mediterranean countries. After studying Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he set out on his travels in 1845. He acted for the British Foreign Office in 1850.
In North Africa and the Near East
From TangierTangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
, Barth made his way overland throughout the length of North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. He also traveled through Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, ascending the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
to Wadi Halfa
Wadi Halfa
Wadi Halfa is a city in the state of Northern, in northern Sudan, on the shores of Lake Nubia . It is the terminus of a rail line from Khartoum and the point where goods are transferred from rail to ferries going down the Lake Nasser...
and crossing the desert to Berenice
Berenice (port)
Berenice or Berenice Troglodytica , also known as Baranis and now known as Medinet-el Haras, is an ancient seaport of Egypt on the west coast of the Red Sea...
. While in Egypt he was attacked and wounded by robbers. Crossing the Sinai peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
, he traversed Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, everywhere examining the remains of antiquity; and returned to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1847. For a time he was engaged there as Privatdozent
Privatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
, and in preparing for publication the narrative of his Wanderungen durch die Küstenländer des Mittelmeeres, which appeared in 1849.
In Sudan, the Sahara and Western Africa
At the instance of BunsenChristian Charles Josias Bunsen
Christian Charles Josias, Baron von Bunsen was a German diplomat and scholar.-Early life and education:Bunsen was born at Korbach, an old town in the little German principality of Waldeck....
, the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n ambassador to Westminster, and scientists like Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
, Barth and Adolf Overweg
Adolf Overweg
Adolf Overweg was a German geologist, astronomer, and traveler from Hamburg. As a member of a mission to fix trade routes in Central Africa he became the first person of European origin to circumnavigate Lake Chad...
, a Prussian astronomer, were appointed colleagues of James Richardson
James Richardson (explorer of the Sahara)
James Richardson Richardson made an expedition in 1845 from Tunis and Tripoli in Libya to Ghadames and Ghat in the middle of the Sahara. Here he collected information about the Tuareg and arrived after nine months back again in Tripoli...
, an explorer of the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
who had been selected by the British government to open up commercial relations with the states of the central and western Sudan
Sudan (region)
The Sudan is the name given to a geographic region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western to Eastern Africa. The name derives from the Arabic bilâd as-sûdân or "land of the Blacks"...
. The party left Marseilles in late 1849, and then left Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
early in 1850, with great difficulty and danger crossing the Sahara Desert.
The deaths of Richardson (March 1851) and Overweg (September 1852), victims of the climate, left Barth to carry on the mission alone. Barth was the first Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an to visit Adamawa
Adamawa
Adamawa may refer to:*Adamawa Emirate, founded by and named after Modibo Adama*Adamawa Plateau, which rises in Nigeria, cuts across Cameroon, and terminates in the Central African Republic*Adamawa Region, Cameroon*Adamawa State, Nigeria...
in 1851. When he returned to Tripoli in September 1855, his journey had extended over 24° of latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
and 20° of longitude
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
, from Tripoli in the north to Adamawa and Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
in the south, and from Lake Chad
Lake Chad
Lake Chad is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, whose size has varied over the centuries. According to the Global Resource Information Database of the United Nations Environment Programme, it shrank as much as 95% from about 1963 to 1998; yet it also states that "the 2007 ...
and Bagirmi in the east to Timbuktu
Timbuktu
Timbuktu , formerly also spelled Timbuctoo, is a town in the West African nation of Mali situated north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali...
(September 1853) in the west — upward of 12000 miles (19,312.1 km). He studied minutely the topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, civilizations, languages, and resources of the countries he visited.
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
, Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke was a German historian, considered one of the founders of modern source-based history. Ranke set the standards for much of later historical writing, introducing such ideas as reliance on primary sources , an emphasis on narrative history and especially international politics .-...
, Friedrich von Schelling and Jakob Grimm, who all laid the foundations of human geography and historical research in the modern sense.
Barth was different from the explorers of the colonial age, because he was interested in the history and culture of the Africans peoples, rather than the possibilities to exploit them. He meticulously documented his observations, and his own journal has become an invaluable source for the study of 19th century Sudanic Africa. Although Barth was not the first European visitor who paid attention to the local oral traditions, he was the first who seriously considered its methodology and usability for historical research. Barth was the first truly scholarly traveler in West Africa. Earlier ones such as René Caillié, Dixon Denham
Dixon Denham
Dixon Denham was an English explorer in West Central Africa.Denham was born in London. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, and was articled to a solicitor, but joined the army in 1811...
and Hugh Clapperton
Hugh Clapperton
Hugh Clapperton was a Scottish traveller and explorer of West and Central Africa.He was born in Annan, Dumfriesshire, where his father was a surgeon. He gained some knowledge of practical mathematics and navigation, and at thirteen was apprenticed on board a vessel which traded between Liverpool...
had no academic knowledge. Barth could read Arabic and was able to investigate the history of some regions, particularly the Songhay empire. He also seems to have learned some African languages
African languages
There are over 2100 and by some counts over 3000 languages spoken natively in Africa in several major language families:*Afro-Asiatic spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel...
. He established close relations with a number of African scholars and rulers, from Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi
Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi
Shehu al-Hajj Muhammad al-Amîn ibn Muhammad al-Kânemî was an Islamic scholar, teacher, religious and political leader who advised and eventually supplanted the Sayfawa dynasty of the Kanem-Bornu Empire. In 1846, Al-Kanemi's son Umar I ibn Muhammad al-Amin became the sole ruler of Borno, an event...
in Bornu
Bornu
Bornu may refer to:* Bornu Empire, a historical state of West Africa* Borno State, Nigeria...
, through the Katsina
Katsina
Katsina is a city , and a Local Government Area in northern Nigeria, and is the capital of Katsina State. Katsina is located some 160 miles east of the city of Sokoto, and 84 miles northwest of Kano, close to the border with Niger. As of 2007, Katsina's estimated population was 459,022...
and Sokoto
Sokoto
Sokoto is a city located in the extreme northwest of Nigeria, near to the confluence of the Sokoto River and the Rima River. As of 2006 it has a population of 427,760...
regions to Timbuktu, where his friendship with Ahmad al-Bakkai al-Kunti
Ahmad al-Bakkai al-Kunti
Ahmad al-Bakkai al-Kunti was a West African Islamic and political leader. He was one of the last principal spokesmen in precolonial Western Sudan for an accommodationist stance towards the threatening Christian European presence, and even provided protection to Heinrich Barth from an attempted...
led to his staying in his house and receiving protection from an attempt to seize him.
Works
The story of Barth's travels was written and published simultaneously in EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, under the title Reisen und Entdeckungen in Nord- und Zentralafrika (Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa; 1857–1858, 5 vols., approx. 3,500 pages). It was considered one of the finest works of its kind at the time, being cited by Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, and it is still used by African historians, as it remains an important scientific work on African cultures of the age and a source for historians of West Africa.
Recognitions
Except for a title as "CB" (Companion) from the Order of the BathOrder of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, Barth himself received no formal recognition of his services from the British government. He returned to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where he prepared a collection of Central African vocabularies (Gotha, 1862–1866). In 1858 he undertook another journey in Asia Minor, and in 1862 visited the Turkish provinces in Europe. In the following year he was granted a professorship of geography (without chair or regular pay) at Berlin University and appointed president of the Geographical Society. His admission to the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Prussian Academy of Sciences
The Prussian Academy of Sciences was an academy established in Berlin on 11 July 1700, four years after the Akademie der Künste or "Arts Academy", to which "Berlin Academy" may also refer.-Origins:...
was denied, as it was claimed that he had achieved nothing for historiography
Historiography
Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
and linguistics. Barth died in Berlin. His grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof III der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde (Cemetery No. III of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church
Jerusalem's Church
Jerusalem's Church is one of the churches of the Evangelical Congregation in the Friedrichstadt , a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia. The present church building is located in Berlin, borough Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, in...
and New Church
Deutscher Dom
Deutscher Dom is the colloquial naming for the New Church located in Berlin on the Gendarmenmarkt across from Französischer Dom . Its parish comprised the northern part of the then new quarter of Friedrichstadt, which until then belonged to the parish of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church...
) in Berlin-Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
, south of Hallesches Tor
Hallesches Tor (Berlin U-Bahn)
The underground station Hallesches Tor is part of the Berlin U-Bahn network at the intersection of the east-west bound U1 and the north-south bound U6 in the Kreuzberg district.-Overview:...
.
Literature
- Heinrich Barth, Corinthiorum commercii et mercaturae historiae particula / Beiträge zur Geschichte von Handel und Handelsverkehr der Korinther, Phil. Diss. 1844 (New edition with English translation: Africa Explorata. Monographien zur frühen Erforschung Afrikas 2. Heinrich-Barth-Institut, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3927688215 (with a complete bibliography of writings by and about Heinrich Barth to 2000)
- Henry Barth,Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: being a Journal of an Expedition undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.’s Government, in the Years 1849–1855 ... 5 volumes. London: Longmans, Green & Co 1857 - 1858. Google books: Volume 1 (1857), Volume 3 (1857), Volume 4 (1858), Volume 5 (1858).
- (US-edition with less pictures) 3 volumes. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857. Google books: Volume 1 (1857), Volume 2 (1857),Volume 3 (1859).
- Albert Adu BoahenAlbert Adu BoahenAlbert Kwadwo Adu Boahen was a Ghanaian academic, historian, and politician. He was an academic at the University of Ghana from 1959 to 1990, since 1971 as a professor...
, Britain, the Sahara and the Western Sudan, 1788-1861. Oxford: Clarendon, 1964 (with a scholarly account and evaluation of Barth's expedition and his relations with the British Foreign Office) - Anthony Kirk-Greene (ed.), Barth's Travels in Nigeria. London: OUP, 1962 (with an excellent short biography of the explorer by one of Britain's foremost experts on West Africa)
External links
- Plates (1) from Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa
- Plates (2) from Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa
- http://www.ziaf.de/barth.htm International conference on Heinrich Barth in Timbuktu, organized by Point Sud, Center for Research on Local Knowledge, Bamako, with the assistance of The Embassy of The Federal Republic of Germany, The German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Programme Mali-Nord, Bamako