Another building block for coming to terms with German colonial history: a Cameroonian king went to school in Ulm and was later executed by Germans in his homeland. Now a square reminds of his life story.
Ulm (dpa / lsw) - He stood up for his people and insisted on the right: In Ulm, a square will commemorate the Cameroonian King Rudolf Duala Manga Bell, who was executed by the German colonial rulers in the 19th century. At the inauguration of the square on Friday, Baden-Württemberg's Justice Minister Marion Gentges (CDU) described Manga Bell as a "great fighter for the right, to which I bow".
The Rudolf-Duala-Manga-Bell-Platz is located between the regional court and the public prosecutor's office in Ulm with reference to the injustice that happened to Manga Bell. The Ulm municipal council decided to name the square after an initiative by the SPD politician Martin Rivoir. The square is also a place for coming to terms with German colonial history, said the minister. At the same time, the square is a reminder that the rule of law is not a matter of course.
Manga Bell, born in 1873, went to school in Aalen and Ulm between 1891 and 1897. As the later king of the Cameroonian Duala people, he denounced the German colonial rulers, among other things, forced labour, arbitrary arrests and flogging. He also insisted on legal promises to his people and addressed them to the German Reichstag. As a result, Manga Bell was convicted after a mock trial and executed in 1914. In Cameroon he is now considered a folk hero.
A stele on the newly named square commemorates the former citizen of the city and explains his life story. King Jean-Yves Eboumbou Douala Bell from Cameroon and Manga Bell's great-grandnephew, Jean-Pierre Félix-Eyoum, also came to Ulm for the inauguration ceremony. Félix-Eyoum thanked the city for "their courage and determination" in naming the square. With a petition to the German Bundestag, Manga Bell's descendants also want to ensure that he is rehabilitated and that the federal government recognizes his innocence.
