In Search of a German Consulate Consul Eschke’s Journey to North Borneo, 28 August to 27 September 1897.
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THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
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Title :
In Search of a German Consulate Consul Eschke’s Journey to North Borneo, 28 August to 27 September 1897. |
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Author :
Volker Schult |
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Abstract:
The document presented in this article was found in the Political Archives of German Foreign Office in Berlin. It is an unofficial report by the German Consul of Singapore, Hans Eschke. Eschke was born in Berlin on 10 November 1856 and started his career in the German Foreign Office in 1885. In 1889 he was appointed Imperial Consul in Singapore and stayed in office as consul until 1898. The consulate was changed into a general consulate with Eschke as head of office in 1901. On 19 July 1904 he died in Singapore.1 Eschke’s report consists of 78 handwritten pages and published and translated into English for the first time. It presents a rare, but of course subjective, picture of North Borneo in 1897. Because this is an unofficial report, some parts are crossed out, mostly dealing with negative or critical issues, such as prison labour. The document offers an insight into the economy, mainly consisting of tobacco plantations owned by Europeans, and makes reference to the various ethnic groups including Chinese coolies. Further, it describes the nature, infrastructure and major settlements of North Borneo, i.e. Kudat and Sandakan. Thus, in a way it partiy completes the first description of early Sandakan by the German naval chaplain Wesenberg on board the German warship “Hertha” making a stopover at Sandakan on 11 April 1875 during its circumnavigation. For an account of the report see the author’s article in The Sarawak Museum Journal of December 2006.
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| DOI: https://doi.org/10.61507/smj22-2010-II18-06 |
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How to cite:
Volker Schult. (2010). In Search of a German Consulate Consul Eschke’s Journey to North Borneo, 28 August to 27 September 1897. The Sarawak Museum Journal, LXVII (88): 143-158 |
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