Franz Emil Hellwig - Prominent Ethnographic Collector in German New Guinea
Franz Emil Hellwig
Prominent Ethnographic Collector in German New Guinea
Rainer F. Buschmann
F. E. Hellwig (1854-1929) was a Renaissance man who, among many other professions, brought together three prominent ethnographic collections from German New Guinea before the First World War. He is best known for initiating stationary ethnographic research in the western isles of the Bismarck Archipelago and for serving as the official ethnographic collector on the Hamburg South Sea Expedition.
F. E. Hellwig “Writing Culture” in his Tent on Pemei, Hermit Islands, ca. 1903. Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt. Inv. Nr. 2022.74:1
Hellwig, a native of Halle, received business management training during his early years. However, by the mid-1890s, he would take advantage of the opportunities presented by the newly annexed German colonial territories and steamed toward New Guinea. In the Bismarck Archipelago, he served for the Deutsche Handels- und Plantagengesellschaft, a venture resulting from the collapse of the Godeffroy Company on Mioko Island. At the same time, Hellwig became deputy associate judge for the colonial court in Herbertshöhe. He also dedicated himself to collecting local stamps issued for the territory of German New Guinea.
However, Hellwig had to battle with the “notorious bargainers” overseeing the bourgeoning ethnographic museums in Germany. For instance, Felix von Luschan, in charge of the Royal Berlin Ethnographic Museum’s African and Oceania collections, refused to pay 7,000 marks for the whole lot, even if he admitted that the pieces were well worth the price. Instead of purchasing the entire collection, Luschan inquired about buying selected individual pieces, an offer which Hellwig refused. Finally, in desperation, the collector turned to his native Halle and sold the ethnographic trove to the city for 5,500 marks. Over the years, Hellwig complained that the ethnographic collection was largely neglected in the local museum and that vermin consumed his carefully assembled labels. The ethnographic trove ultimately vanished following the Great War.
In 1899, Hellwig would return to the Bismarck Archipelago and, in the coming year, take over the management of the "Fürst Bismarck," the first official hotel in the territory. Constructed through the financial assistance of "Queen" Emma Kolbe, the hotel was open to the public with great fanfare. However, Hellwig and Queen Emma would soon develop deep-seated animosities over the establishment's management, resulting in the former seeking employment elsewhere. His ethnographic experience in pulling together a well-determined and labeled collection would be much searched after by Max Thiel (see biography in PROVENANCE), who sought to bring together an extensive ethnographic assemblage from the recently contacted western isles of the Bismarck Archipelago.
Weapons from Aua and Wuvulu reproduced in Paul Hambruch, Wuvulu und Aua (1908), Plate XXX. The shark-tooth daggers, which, according to Hellwig, were used mostly by women, bore a superficial resemblance to similar weapons in Micronesia.
In 1893, a chance encounter with Aua and Wuvulu with a New Guinea Company recruiting vessel returned a small but significant collection of artifacts from these islands to Berlin. In this city, the Luschan mentioned above noticed a remarkable resemblance between weapons from these islands--especially shark-toothed weapons—and those hailing from the region of Micronesia. In an article, Luschan surmised that Aua and Wuvulu represented a potential boundary between the ethnographic areas of Melanesia and Micronesia and encouraged further investigation. His widely diffused article ended up in the enterprising hands of Max Thiel, who managed the Hernsheim Company. Motivated by this lucrative possibility of turning ethnographic objects into commodities, Thiel advised his employees to expand their trade to these islands and to collect as many ethnographic objects as possible. Expectant of great profit, Thiel brought the collection from the western isles of the Bismarck Archipelago to Germany in 1896. Hoping for no less than 20,000 marks, the Hernsheim manager was soon rebuffed by Luschan, who judged the collection to be more “arsenal than science.” Sold well below sticker price to different buyers, Thiel grew disenchanted with the potential of turning ethnographica into commodities. To make matters worse, Luschan wrote in a prominent publication that Hernsheim’s effort to save Auan and Wuvuluan heritage resulted in disappointment: “The whole exercise amounts to a plundering action, unique in the history of ethnography.” An annoyed Thiel sought to restore his tarnished reputation by enlisting an ethnographic collector experienced enough to establish a unique assembly of artifacts to satisfy even the most discerning museum curator.
F. E. Hellwig, second from left, depicted with the participants of the first, Melanesian, year of the Hamburg South Sea Expedition. To his immediate right is Richard Vahsel (see PROVENANCE biography) captain of the expedition’s steamer Peiho, next Vahsel is Friedrich Fülleborn the expedition leader for the first year. Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt.
Thiel’s choice fell on Hellwig, who was looking for new employment following his dispute with Queen Emma and had prior experience in compiling ethnographic collections supplied with perfect provenance for each artifact. Thiel had sold his economic interest in the western isles of the Bismarck Archipelago to one of his former employees, Heinrich Rudolph Wahlen (see biography in PROVENANCE), who, in turn, promised Hellwig free access to his newfound economic realm. On the schooner Gazelle, Hellwig traveled with surgeon and later ethnographer Otto Dempwolff to the region to compile a collection and associated information that would result in more than 3,000 artifacts and notes about Auan and Wuvulan culture and language. In 1908, his notes would contribute to an essential monograph on this region authored by Paul Hambruch. Through the support of Thiel and Wahlen, Hellwig undertook research in the western isles with something resembling ethnographic fieldwork, sometimes from a pitched tent (see image 1). Although his stay on the crucial islands of Wuvulu and Aua was relatively short, he resided on the former from November to December of 1902 with another temporary residence in 1904; on Aua, Hellwig stayed from August to December of 1903, although a leg injury suffered in September restricted his mobility. On Wuvulu, Dempwolff commanded the two young translators leaving Hellwig to collect information based on his extensive knowledge of Tok Pisin. This limited communication ability proved advantageous since Paul Hambruch, the compiler of Hellwig’s notes, argued that the translators frequently misled Dempwolff. Perhaps it would be too far-fetched to label Hellwig’s stay in the western Isles as participant observation. Still, it is interesting to note that a commercial company sponsored his residence—Thiel’s Hernsheim—that was less interested in ethnographic results and more in obtaining well-determined objects that could then be turned into lucrative commodities.
F.E. depicted with the Participants of the second, Micronesian, year of the Hamburg South Sea Expedition. Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt. In the first row, seated Richard Vahsel, to his right Elisabeth Krämer-Bannow and her husband Augustin Krämer, the leader of the expedition’s second leg. F. E. Hellwig is in the second row, wearing spectacles and holding one of the Peiho’s lifebuoys.
When Hellwig arrived in Germany with the massive collection that would occupy 30 cubic meters of cargo space, Thiel was all too happy that he could rely on the businessman to peddle the group to diverse museums in Germany and could relieve Hernsheim’s manager with the “dirty work” to have to deal with hardnosed museum curators. Thiel wrote that Hellwig was “playing circus master for his gigantic collection.” However, as an investment, Hellwig’s ethnographic trove was a disappointment. Travelers and residents to German New Guinea estimated that Thiel had invested 20,000 marks—the freight alone was probably no less than 2,000 marks—in the assembling. Georg Thilenius, who had just taken over the helm of the Hamburg Ethnographic Museum, convinced Hernsheim notables during a dinner to accept 20,000 marks as payment for the whole lot. As disappointing as the collection may have been for Thiel’s financial planning—the ethnographic assemblage was probably more intended to restore the Hernsheim manager’s reputation badly damaged by Luschan a few years earlier—it further cemented Hellwig’s reputation as a skilled ethnographic collector.
In the years following the sale of the collection, Hellwig took on odd jobs until 1907, when he took over a business specializing in colonial goods, Karl Eisengräber, in Halle. However, he also stayed in close contact with Thilenius in Hamburg because of the upcoming monograph on Wuvulu and Aua. The Hamburg director convinced Hellwig to join the forthcoming Hamburg South Sea Expedition as the official ethnographic collector. To secure Hellwig’s services, which would also mean that the collector had to sell his business in Halle, Thilenius provided a small loan to Hellwig to settle his affairs, pledged participation for the entire two years of the expedition, and promised future employment in the Hamburg museum once the venture returned from German New Guinea.
Hellwig (seated) during the Micronesian leg of the Hamburg South Sea Expedition. Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt. Inv. Nr 3:556.
Besides the vital collection of artifacts, Hellwig took on several other tasks for the expedition and its associated members. For instance, he was responsible for accounting and thus had to pay individual members’ monthly salaries. A lively correspondence with Georg Thilenius proved that Hellwig’s services were soon overstretched. Collecting from a steamer, with quickly changing locations throughout the Bismarck Archipelago, found Hellwig pleading with Thilenius to hire additional collectors for the second Micronesian year of the expedition. For instance, in late 1908, Hellwig exclaimed: “It cannot continue like this!” He insisted that some of the expedition participants take on some of the many tasks associated with the venture, such as packing and keeping account of the inventory. He continued: “What is to become of my official work? The collecting?! I do not see land for weeks on end; this is the case in the Admiralty Islands. And if I collect from the vessel, I cannot rely on translators. Dr. M[üller] believes, perhaps correctly, that he should not be burdened with collecting. . . The only problem is that a great deal of material is amassed on our hurried journey, and it cannot be properly labeled unless it is in haste.” [Many thanks to Antje Kelm for this reference]. Hellwig also resented that many of his fellow expedition members would not acknowledge his ethnographic expertise beyond collecting artifacts.
Despite his disputes with the scientific personnel, the businessman would continue his acquisition throughout German New Guinea. Official expedition painter, Hans Vogel, identified at least three types of collecting performed by Hellwig. The first was from the deck of the Peiho, where the collector situated himself on the last step of the boarding ladder and, surrounded by crates containing different kinds of exchange goods, he would barter for indigenous artifacts. On land, Hellwig continued this exchange process but would ask, through the intervention of translators or his knowledge of Tok Pisin, more concrete questions about the manufacture and purpose of the artifacts he acquired. Another, more problematic, type of collecting emerged when the indigenous inhabitants of a particular village would flee the scene because they mistook the Peiho for a naval or recruiting vessel. In this case, Hellwig would selectively acquire artifacts left behind by the escaping people and, in return, would deposit trade ware that he deemed adequate. This rather one-sided barter would accept the term “anonymous purchase.” The definitive collection of the Hamburg South Sea Expedition exceeded 15,000 artifacts, with Hellwig acquiring the lion’s share.
Artifacts from the expedition in the Hamburg Museum waiting for classification. Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt. Inv. Nr. Mus. 03
The expedition ended in April of 1910 with its arrival in Hong Kong. Hellwig opted to return to Germany via the trans-Siberian railroad. Arriving in Hamburg, he took on the employment promised by Thilenius as manager of the museum’s magazine. His first task was cataloging and labeling the gigantic collections the expedition returned to Hamburg. The job designation was below Hellwig’s abilities. The head of the Oceanic division, Paul Hambruch, who had joined the Hamburg South Sea Expedition on its second Micronesian year, frequently consulted with the magazine manager over artifacts offered to the museum for purchase or exchange.
Wooden figure, Manus, Admiralty Islands, part of Hellwig’s 1905 collection, Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt. Inv. Nr. 2004.05.
In early 1924, approaching 70 years of age, Hellwig retired from his managerial post at the Hamburg Museum. Unfortunately, the hyperinflation shook Germany the year before and reduced his retirement to a mere pittance. To eke out a living in post-war Germany, Hellwig returned to Halle. Otto Reche (see biography in PROVENANCE), another Hamburg South Sea participant, visited Hellwig for his 75th birthday in May 1929. He found the former ethnographic collector in declining health and living in impoverished conditions supported through a small stipend from his niece employed as a schoolteacher. Reche appealed to Thilenius and Max Thiel to collect funds for his support. The 500 marks they assembled brought temporary relief to the collector. Nevertheless, Hellwig passed away in November of that year.
Oil vessel, south coast of Manus, Admiralty Islands, part of Hellwig’s 1905 collection, Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt. Inv. Nr.2125.05
Hellwig generally developed good relationships with the colonial residents and the indigenous people of German New Guinea, greatly aiding his ethnographic collection activity. Although, because of his already advanced age, Hellwig was in his late forties when he collected for Max Thiel in 1902, he was often referred to as “Papa Hellwig.” Similarly, among the indigenous people, his nickname was Master Cus Cus, probably derived from the Samoan term fusi fusi or writer. Phoebe Parkinson (see biography in PROVENANCE) and her daughter Nellie often mention another moniker in their correspondence with Hellwig: the shiny moon. This name is a direct attribution to his appearance, a round face with a noticeable receding hairline.
Breadfruit cutter made from turtle bone, Western Islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, part of Hellwig’s 1905 collection, Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt. Inv. Nr. 4011: 05
Mask from New Ireland, part of Hellwig’s 1905 collection, Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt. Inv. Nr. 3093:05
Mask from New Ireland with long ears, part of Hellwig’s 1905 collection, Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt. Inv. Nr. 2646:05
