German East Africa Company
The German East Africa Company (DOAG) was a German chartered company created to gain and run colonies in Africa. It helped establish German East Africa, a territory that later became parts of today’s Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. It began in 1884 as the Society for German Colonisation in Berlin and later became the DOAG.
In 1885 Germany created a protectorate around Wituland (in what is now Kenya). The company also leased a coastal strip opposite Zanzibar for 50 years, which led to local resistance along the coast of present‑day Tanzania. The German navy had to help the company keep Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo, and in 1889 Berlin was asked to help quell the rebellion.
By 1891 it was clear the company could not govern the area effectively, so it sold German East Africa to the German government, which then ruled the territory directly. DOAG continued some activities—mines, plantations, railways, banks, and a mint—before handing them over to the colonial administration. Later it operated mainly as a landholding company within German territory.
During World War I Britain occupied German East Africa. Both sides recruited and forced Africans to work as porters and laborers, and many villages were destroyed in the fighting.
The DOAG flag featured a stylized Southern Cross.
Why was the company formed? German business and politics in the late 1800s wanted overseas profits and prestige. Explorers and leaders helped establish German control, sometimes using force. Key figures included Carl Peters (founder), Hermann von Wissmann (military leader), Julius von Soden (established the first school), Eduard von Liebert (built hospitals and railways), and Tom von Prince (military involvement). The company built roads and railways and exported coffee and rubber, helping industrialize parts of East Africa. Railways were largely completed by 1914.
In summary, the DOAG played a central role in founding and running German East Africa, built infrastructure and industries, faced resistance, and ultimately dissolved in 1920 after Germany lost its colonies in World War I.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:56 (CET).