Podcast with Jean Berchmans Ndihokubwayo
In a new episode on podcast Decolonial Memories, historian Jean Berchmans Ndihokubwayo from Burundi talks about the entangled history between his country and Germany, originating from the period of German occupation 1896 to 1916. The podcast is available (free access) on all major platforms, e.g. Spotify:
Doctoral dissertation
Jean is an Assistant Professor at the National University of Burundi. He is presently finishing his doctoral thesis at the University of Gießen
(“Burundi under German rule, 1896-1916“) under the guidance of Prof Bettina Brockmeyer. His stay is funded through the research programme “German Colonial Rule“ of Germany’s Foreign Office which is administered by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
Treaty of Kiganda
As Jean points out in the conversation, Burundi has a long tradition of remembering German colonial rule. But Germany seems to have forgotten her former colony. The main site of commemoration for German colonial rule is at Kiganda which was the capital of the historic Kingdom of Burundi. The ruler, King Mwezi Gisabo, initially resisted the German occupation. After a seven-year long war of resistance, he had to surrender and signed the treaty of Kiganda in 1903.
German cemetry
Jean also refers to the German cemetery at Rugombo which, according to the German Association for War Graves, contains the graves of eight German and 30 „Unknown Askari“ soldiers from the years 1905 to 1915. A local worker, paid by the embassy, maintains the cemetery. Jean reports that the German embassy holds regular services of remembrance there and pays for a maintenance worker. However, as he observed, apparently Burundian victims of German colonialism are not included in the memory.
Cultural belongings
According to the findings of Jean, the five German museums with the highest number of belongings from Burundi are: Ethnological Museum Berlin (446 items), Museum Fünf Kontinente München (272), Linden Museum Stuttgart (264), Grassi Museum für Völkerkunde Leipzig (85) and Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum Köln (80).
Boma of Gitega
Jean talks about efforts supported by the German embassy and the government of Burundi to transform the Boma of Gitega into a site of commemoration which might later be used to house the returned cultural belongings from Germany. Apparently, the collaborative process will soon lead to a formal agreement between the two sides. To bring this project to fruition, a bilateral steering committee will be set up. To further deepen the dialogue, the German embassy organised a meeting with Burundian scholars in September 2025 on the theme “Germany – Burundi: Research on the period of German colonialism and perspectives for the future”.
In response to an enquiry by this blog in February 2026, Germany’s Foreign Office confirmed that it supports German-Burundian initiatives which address the colonial past: „One example is the planned renovation of a building from the German colonial era in Gitega to house a museum for Burundian cultural artefacts from German museums and archives.“
Twinning with Baden-Württemberg
The federal state of Baden-Württemberg engages in a partnership with Burundi, which started in 1984 and was formalised in 2014. A programme of events took place to mark its 40th anniversary in 2024. This partnership is primarily overseen by the state-owned Foundation for Development Cooperation – Baden-Württemberg (SEZ) which operates a liaison office in Bujumbura since June 2023.
Strategic initiative by Senate
In the podcast, Jean refers to a formal request for reparation and restitution which the Senate of Burundi sent to Germany in August 2020 (see letter below). In the official communication, the government of Burundi asks the German government to acknowledge the historic injustice and to apologise to the people of Burundi. In addition, the diplomatic intervention demands material compensation for the dead, the confiscation and destruction inflicted by German troops. Burundi also suggests to collaborate on educational media and to set up a joint task force to identify and return archival material. The return of cultural belongings is not explicitly addressed in the letter.
The letter of the Senate on behalf of the government of Burundi was addressed to the President of the German Bundesrat which, however, is not the appropriate institution in charge of foreign policy. This may explain why Jean was told by the then Minister of State, Katja Keul, that Germany’s Foreign Office has no knowledge of the official submission from Burundi. Apparently, no answer was received by the sender. When asked about the letter from the Senate of Burundi in February 2026, the Foreign Office refused to even acknowledge the existence of the communication.
To prepare for the initiative, the country’s senate had put together a panel of experts to assess the damage done during colonialism and advise on the cost of damages. They had calculated a total sum of €36 billion to be paid by Germany and Belgium.
Letter by Senate of Burundi to Germany
