Curt von François

Who was Curt von François?

Curt Karl Bruno von François was a military and political figure in the early days of German colonialism in Africa. He is remembered as one of the pioneers of German Southwest Africa.

François was of French Huguenot ancestry, and was born in Luxembourg on 2 October 1852. He was a soldier in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, and in 1883 worked as a geographer on an exploratory expedition of the Congo region under the leadership of Hermann von Wissmann. Later he became a member of the German Imperial General Staff, and in 1887 was stationed in Togoland.

In 1883, the German merchant Adolf Lüderitz purchased Angra Pequena following negotiations with a local African chief. He called this coastal region of southwestern Africa- "Lüderitz". Fearing that Great Britain was soon to declare the area a protectorate, Lüderitz advised the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck to claim it, which he did at the Berlin Conference of 1884.

In order to provide security to the territory, in 1889 Germany sent Hauptmann Curt von François with 21 troops to the British-held enclave of Walvis Bay. Soon afterwards François stationed himself at Otjimbingwe in order to deal with opponents to German authority in the interior of the territory. Eventually he occupied the completely destroyed settlement of Windhoek. At Windhoek, François set up headquarters of the German occupation. This location was chosen because the Germans felt it would serve as a buffer zone between the Nama and Herero tribes.