Dream islands and island dreams (2): Hawaii and Berlin
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South Sea islands of dreams and Prussian trading dreams
King Kamehameha I. of Hawaiʻi
News of the dream islands of the South Seas had already
reached German-speaking countries in the last quarter of
the 18th century through Georg Forster and Heinrich Zimmermann.
The naturalist and poet Adelbert von Chamisso also visited
Hawaiʻi in November 1816 and September 1817 during the
Rurik Expedition under the command of Otto von Kotzebue.
Even before his "Remarks and Views on a Voyage of Discovery"
was printed in Weimar in 1821, his observations had already
spread to Berlin, and his friend E. T. A. Hoffmann published
his epistolary novella "Haimatochare" in Berlin in 1819,
the first European prose piece set on the Hawaiian island of
Oʻahu.
Hawaii was therefore not only no longer terra incognita,
but already a literary setting when the "Mentor" set sail from Bremen in December 1822.
With the end of the "Age of Discovery," the major trade routes had already shifted to the
oceans when Prussia prepared to open up new markets with its first circumnavigation of
the world. While the "East India" and "West India" companies of European countries had
long since established far-reaching trade relations, in the emerging Prussia it was only
under King Frederick II that the "Royal Prussian Asiatic Company in Emden to Canton and
China" was founded. These ships brought not only tea and spices to the country, but also
luxury goods such as porcelain and silk. However, the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) marked
the beginning of the company's decline, and it was finally dissolved in 1765.
seal of the general directorate of the royal marine trading company
Just seven years later, the "General Directorate of the
Seehandlungs-Sozietät" was founded in Berlin, which
– partly due to the Napoleonic Wars – was initially not
particularly successful. This changed with the
transformation into an independent financial and trading
institution under state supervision. As head of the
Seehandlungs-Sozietät from 1820 onwards, Christian Rother
shaped the Seehandlung's activities, which also included
the first Prussian circumnavigation of the world, the
"Mentor." When it departed Bremen, the merchant frigate
was not yet Prussian property, but the Berlin merchant
Wilhelm Oswald, responsible for cargo, oversaw the trading
company from the outset as supercargo.
the royal prussian ship Mentor circumsailing Cape Horn
Like the Prussian ships of the Emden East
Asiatic Trading Company, the "Mentor" was
also scheduled to dock in Canton, China –
but this time approaching from the east.
After circumnavigating Cape Horn and stopping
in the Chilean ports of Valparaíso and
Coquimbo, the ship arrived in Honolulu Harbor
on the island of O'ahu in the Kingdom of
Hawai'i on November 28, 1823. The day before,
King Liholiho and Queen Kamāmalu, accompanied
by Boki, the governor of O'ahu, his wife
Kuini Liliha, and other companions, had left Hawai'i for London aboard the British whaler
"L'Aigle," despite "great excitement among the chiefs about the king's journey to England,"
as Stephen Reynolds had already noted in his diary on November 8. Immediately after the
arrival of the “Mentor,” Wilhelm Oswald observed that “the death of a chief, who had been
buried that morning, had plunged all those present into deep mourning.”
Mahiole
It is not known whether these political events had anything to do
with the fact that a young Hawaiian who introduced himself as
"Harry" wanted to be taken on board the "Mentor". When the ship
left Honolulu for Canton on December 3rd, he saw his homeland of
Hawaiʻi for the last time in his life. With him on board were
several items that had been acquired during the short stay,
including a woven helmet (mahiole), which is now on display in
the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. The Germans also called Harry
"Maitey" and this name, which goes back to the Hawaiian "maitaʻi",
later became his family name in Prussia. Since Harry Maitey is always described in the
sources as friendly and gentle, the meanings "good, fine, in order" of "maitaʻi" probably
fit his character.
König Liholiho and Königin Kamāmalu
No one knows what dreams of a future in a distant land Harry Maitey had as he sailed to
Canton and then on via Java and St. Helena toward Europe. As the "Mentor" sailed through
the English Channel, the ship that was to bring the remains of King Liholiho and Queen
Kamāmalu back to Hawaii, both of whom had contracted measles and died in London, was
preparing to depart in the Thames. During the return voyage, the "Mentor" was purchased by
the Prussian Seehandlung (sea merchant company) and ordered to Swinemünde, where it arrived on
September 14, 1824. King Friedrich Wilhelm III decreed that Christian Rother, the president
of the Seehandlung (sea merchant company), should have Harry Maitey brought to Berlin and taken
in. The "Sandwich Islander" now had his residence on Jägerstraße at the corner of
Gendarmenmarkt. What else would his eyes see in a foreign land – and with what eyes would
Berliners see him?
©
CC BY-SA Thomas Tunsch ( https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1644-8777 ), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode.en
Abbildungsnachweis
„Tammeamea“ – Otto von Kotzebue: Entdeckungs-Reise in die Süd-See und nach der Berings-Straße zur Erforschung einer nordöstlichen Durchfahrt, Band 2, vor S. 15, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek : https://mdz- nbn-resolving.de/details:bsb10715380
Siegelmarke der General-Direction der Königlichen Seehandlungs- Societät, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Siegelmarke_General_- _Direction_der_K%C3%B6niglichen_Seehandlungs_-_Societ%C3%A4t_- _Berlin_W0223066.jpg
„Das Königl. Preuß. Seeschiff Mentor das Cap Horn umsegelnd“, Von Sr. Majestät acquirirt im Dec. 1843, überreicht von dem K. P. Generalkonsul Hr. Oswald, Oelgemälde im Berliner Schlosse, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handelsfregatte_Mentor.png
Mahiole, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ethnologisches Museum / Heinz- Günther Malenz, CC BY-SA 4.0
„Their Majesties King Rheo Rhio (Liholiho), Queen Tamehamalu(Tamāmalu), Madame Poke (Boki) of the Sandwich Islands“ by John William Gear (Ausschnitt), 1824, color lithograph, Honolulu Museum of Art accession 9990, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki File:King_Rheo_Rhio,_Queen_Tamehamalu,_Madame_Poke_by_John_William_Gear,_color_lithograph.jpg
