1. Hermann Wilhelm Leopold Ludwig Wissmann, after 1890 Hermann von Wissmann, was a German explorer and administrator in Africa.
12 Facts About Hermann Wissmann
1. 2.
Hermann Wissmann served Mecklenburg in Fusilierregiment No 90 posted at Rostock.
3.
Pogge stayed to build an agricultural research station for a Congolese chief, while Hermann Wissmann trekked to the Indian Ocean via present-day Tanzania.
4.
Hermann Wissmann was awarded the 1888 Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his explorations.
5.
In March 1883 Hermann Wissmann gave the name "Zappo Zap" to a Songye leader known as Nsapu Nsapu who ruled over the town of Mpengie, part of the Ben'Eki kingdom in the eastern Kasai region.
6.
In 1888, Hermann Wissmann was promoted to captain and appointed 1st official Reichskommissar for the German East Africa region where he was tasked with suppression of the Abushiri Revolt led by Abushiri ibn Salim al-Harthi.
7.
On his way to East Africa Hermann Wissmann hired a mercenary force of mostly Sudanese soldiers from decommissioned units of the Anglo-Egyptian army to whom later a number of Zulus from South Africa were added, all under the command of German officers.
8.
In January 1890, Hermann Wissmann issued a general pardon to the remaining rebels.
9.
Hermann Wissmann's forces used extremely brutal methods borrowed from the Congo to suppress resistance.
10.
Hermann Wissmann was promoted to major in 1890 and given a hero's welcome on his return to Germany.
11.
Hermann Wissmann died in a hunting accident on 15 June 1905, after accidentally shooting himself with his own rifle.
12.
Hermann Wissmann was harshly attacked for burning villages and laying waste to agricultural fields, executing great numbers of natives and tolerating no opposition.