Photo courtesy of Afrika-Hamburg- Statue of Heinrich Carl Von Schimmelmann smeared with red paint.

Germany's black community are demanding that the government demolish the statue of Heinrich Carl Von Schimmelmann in Hamburg, which they argue honours 'a racist abductor, enslaver and mass murderer of African people.’

The statue of Heinrich Carl Von Schimmelmann was covered in red paint by ‘unknown persons’ on November 25, the day a protest was staged by a coalition of 18 black-led organisations including: The Pan African Women in Liberation Organisation and the Pan African Liberation of the Black Community in Germany .

The black community began demonstrating against the statue on September 25, attracting up to 60 protestors. Community leaders were then invited to attend a Public Affairs committee meeting where they re-iterated their offence at the statue. As a result, it has been placed on the local parliamentary agenda to take a decision on the statue’s fate.

The black coalition is seeking immediate removal of the statue and an official apology from the local government in Wandsbek and Hamburg to the black community in Hamburg. It is also demanding an official apology from the government, churches, regional and federal government for its “colonial, Nazi and neo-colonial” crimes against African people and payment of reparations to the African continent and Africans in the Diaspora.

Schimmelmann, once thought to be the richest man in Europe in the 18th century, derived his considerable wealth from slavery, owning several sugar plantations on the Virgin Islands.