The enrollment and presence of people of African ancestry in Prussian or German armies is a heavily understudied area. Modern scholarship has established that yes, there were soldiers of color in the German armies of the late 19th and early 20th century.
But our story does not begin there. The presence of African men as soldiers in German-speaking lands can be traced back to Emperor Federick II of the Holy Roman Empire who had African soldiers in his army, as well as other Africans in his royal court, something that is reflected in the period's (1220-1250) art. During the American War of Independence (1775-1783), German auxiliaries hired by Great Britain welcomed (as well as kidnapped) enslaved Africans into their ranks to serve as both servants and soldiers. At the conclusion of the war, a portion of these men and their families actually returned home with the German soldiers, opting to start a new life in Europe. These are only two examples out of many.
There was therefore already a history of an African presence in German armies. As we move into the latter part of the 19th century, with increased contacts between Prussia (and later Imperial Germany as a whole) and African nations, and the late German desire for overseas colonies, the presence of Africans in Germany increased. With the colonization and subsequent creation of German East Africa, German South West Africa, Kamerun, and Togoland starting in the 1880s, Africans came to Imperial Germany for a variety of personal reasons that included migration, travels, diplomacy, employment, and education.
A famous case is that of August Sabac el Cher (c. 183x-1885) and his son, Gustav Sabac el Cher. August was given as a "gift" to Prussian Prince Albrecht during a visit to Egypt in 1843 by viceroy Mehmet Ali. August was brought back to Prussia where he came to be employed by Prince Albrecht before joining the Prussian Army, serving in the Wars of Unification. His association with Prince Albrecht never disappeared and he came to work for him for the rest of his life, rising in the ranks. August married a German woman, Anna Maria Jung, and their son, Gustav Sabac el Cher (1868–1934), would follow in his father's footsteps. Born in Berlin, Gustav was given a fine education and served in the Prussian Army in the more "royally appropriate" position of musician, another traditional role for African soldiers in European armies, but accompanied with a high education in music at the Royal Academy of Berlin. Gustav served until his retirement in 1909. Today, this beautiful painting of Gustav and an unknown white woman from 1890, can be seen in the German Historical Museum in Berlin, surprising many of its visitors who were unaware of the long African presence in Germany.
But not everyone was happy with the presence of Gustav or other Afro-German or African men in German uniform. Gustav became a particular target by conservative, right-wing politicians and newspapers. This has to be understood in the context of the increased popularity of scientific racism and changes in racist thought that became popular in Europe at large. In the minds of these men and women, Germany could never be black and that including individuals of African ancestry in German society was an affront to the racial pride of Germany. One such politician, Eduard von Liebert, complained in 1909 that:
I would like to touch on a third matter that also concerns music. It has come to my attention –I wish that it weren’t so — that a Prussian cavalry regiment has a Negro as a timpanist and a Prussian infantry regiment has a Negro — whether as a choirmaster or drum major, I don’t know. If this is true, I would consider it an outrage. Because the commander in question surely must have no racial feeling nor racial pride at all. [...] I would actually like to know if anyone could expect an Englishman or an American to serve under a colored — it just doesn’t happen! That would lead to rebellion, to mutiny. It would surely upset our German soldiers.
Gustav even won a lawsuit against a right-wing newspaper for slander during this period of time. While the racist rhetoric was increasing towards people of African ancestry in Germany during the 1900s, soldiers of color in the Imperial German Army continued to have a visible presence. Following the outbreak of the First World War, many African men who found themselves stranded in Germany enlisted in the German Army, joining Afro-German men who had served for years, if not decades. These men fought in every large-scale battle that Germany fought during the war, ranging from the Western Front all the way to the Middle East. A common misconception is that black soldiers in German service were army musicians and therefore did not actively see combat. This is wrong. Not all soldiers of African ancestry were musicians and even those that were musicians in the peacetime German army saw brutal action during the First World War.
This is a brief overview of an immensely interesting and neglected area of study that has fortunately been given more and more attention in the last two decades. Unfortunately, many misconceptions still exists, but rest assured that the presence of soldiers of African ancestry in German service was a real thing that could sometimes go in generations.
Sources:
Germany and the Black Diaspora: Points of Contact, 1250–1914 by Mischa Honek, Martin Klimke, and Anne Kuhlman (ed.) (Berghahn Books, 2013).
Black Germany: The Making and Unmaking of a Diaspora Community, 1884–1960 by Robbie Aitken and Eve Rosenhaft (Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Not So Plain As Black and White: Afro-German Culture and History, 1890–2000 by Patricia Mazón and Reinhild Steingröver (ed.) (University of Rochester Press, 2005)
A colonialist complains about black musicians in the Prussian army (1909) by Jeff Bowersox.
