Eberhard Gudowius

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Eberhard Gudowius (born July 29, 1878 in Schöneiche, Prussia; death date unknown) was a German military officer who worked in Africa for the German Empire. He served in the Schutztruppe and rose to the rank of captain. He is known for acting as colonial resident in Burundi in 1909 and in Rwanda from 1911 to 1913.

In Burundi and Rwanda he helped run German indirect rule. He disliked some of the local ways of choosing leaders and began naming “government chiefs” who were loyal to him. In Rwanda he clashed with King Yuhi V Musinga. When a rebellion broke out in 1912 led by Ndungutse, Gudowius initially tried to stay neutral, then joined Yuhi V’s forces to crush the rebels. Ndungutse’s rebellion was defeated, and Gudowius ordered harsh punishments, including the execution of a rebel leader named Rukara. He received honors from the Rwandan royal court, but Yuhi V remained unhappy with how Gudowius had acted.

World War I brought Gudowius back to the battlefield in East Africa. He was put in charge of German forces around Lake Victoria, earning the nickname bwana lazima, meaning “you must.” In June 1915, British forces approached Bukoba. Gudowius and his men fought delaying actions but were driven from the town. He later commanded at Lake Victoria and fought a difficult retreat as Allied pressure increased.

In July 1916 Gudowius was defeated near Kato after a clash with Belgian forces under Major Rouling and was captured, becoming a prisoner of war. After the war he became a writer, publishing pieces about the Nyabarongo River (1928/29) and a right‑wing colonial story about Ndungutse and Basebya (1936).

Gudowius’s death date is not known.