There is nothing finer than learning something new and interesting. Thanks to Joerg W., a gadling reader who dropped a comment on my post about the first African American Baptist church in the United States, I’ve hooked into finding out more information about Black History Month in Germany. Although I haven’t come across events travelers can go to in Germany, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. has a section on the topic. There are photographs and archives that chronicle the experience of black people in Nazi Germany between the years 1933 and 1945. Details about the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and the role of African American soldiers who helped liberate the camps are part of the offerings.
Black History Month in Germany focuses on African-Germans. This month African- German artists are getting some notice. For example, at the Berlinale International Film Festival there was a series of films by African-German filmmakers about the African-German experience. Atlantic Review: A Press Digest on Transatlantic Affairs, the publication Joerg contributes to also presents information about African-German visual artists.
As a traveler, it interests me to come across details that give me a fuller picture about where I am traveling. So, if you are traveling in Germany any time soon, here is another lens from which to view the world you are seeing.