Page 7 - GC-May-June-2025

Plenty of planning made the 1907 The German Citizen • Mary - June 2025 • 7
Buffalo German Day a great success The last functioning remnant

s the weather starts to
Awarm, it’s time to crack Opa’s
open the calendar and pen in all the of the German Imperial Fleet
upcoming festivals for the year. Attic
We’ve got the Cheektowaga Polish By Martin Ederer
American Arts Festival in July, the by Greg ne remaining ship from the
Lebanese Festival in August, the OGerman imperial fleet, MV
Ukrainian Festival on September Witul Liemba, continues to sail in Tanza-
6th and our own Buffalo German nia. Needless to say, this is a long
Fest on Labor Day Weekend. But and complicated story about Ger-
all these events don’t just get man colonialism and World War I
slapped together at the last minute that helps to remind us why we call
and go off without a hitch. A single the Great War a world war in the
event takes months of planning by first place. Liemba’s story is also
dozens of people to be a success, well-suited as an action novel and a
and if you want to make it part of a movie…but more on that later.
larger affair, it can take twice as The Liemba started its life in
long with four times as much work, Germany at the Meyer-Werfft Ship-
such as the 1907 Buffalo German yard in Papenberg in Lower Sax-
Day. ony. Designed to be a passenger
In 1907 the City of Buffalo was and cargo ferry on Lake Tan- woman. Toutou, Kingani became their first
celebrating its 75th birthday and ganyika for the German East Africa By no means a large ship, the victim in December 1915. The ship
putting the finishing details on the Railway company, the ship was as- Goetzen displaced some 1500 tons. survived the skirmish but was cap-
McKinley Monument. To mark the sembled in Germany and then Its two triple-expansion steam en- tured and rechristened as the Fifi,
two events, encourage ex-pats and trance pin, and selected the date of promptly disassembled and packed gines cranked out a modest 250 hp. now part of the growing British
tourists to visit, as well as attempt Aug. 11 for the celebration. in 5000 crates for shipment to As World War I heated up, and after lake fleet. In early 1916 the Hedwig
to remove some of the dark cloud Once German Day was set for Africa. its launch in 1915 the Goetzen was Wissmann attempted to investigate
left over the city after the assassina- Sept. 7, the Old Home Week com- After landing in Dar-es-Salaam immediately commissioned into the disappearance of the Kingani.
tion, Buffalo decided to market the mittee arranged for a third band and in present-day Tanzania, she was the German Imperial Navy as an Instead she fell victim herself to the
event under the title, Old Home a parade for the Germans to follow shipped by rail on the German Mit- auxiliary warship SMS Goetzen. Fifi, getting sunk by the once-Ger-
Week. the Children’s Day parade. The tellandbahn to Kigoma. Rebuilt As the war bore down on Ger- man ship.
At venues and events across the German Day parade began at Main through 1914, she was christened man East Africa, Lake Tanganyika, Spicer-Simpson next set his
city, each day the first week of Sep- Street worked its way up Genesee SS Graf von Goetzen, named for whose shores bordered German, sights on the Goetzen, but not be-
tember would be devoted to a Street, turned left onto Fillmore the sixth Reichskommissar of the Belgian and British colonies alike, fore requisitioning a more substan-
different group of the Queen City, and ended at Teutonia Park. The German East Africa colony. Von became a key zone of conflict. Af- tial ship able to equal it. When he
including a Fireman’s Day, Cana- committee also oversaw the con- Goetzen is perhaps best remem- ter the British had damaged and finally launched his expedition, he
dian Day, McKinley Day, Buffalo struction of bandstands and view- bered for the dubious distinction of then trapped the SMS Königsberg hesitated as he approached what
Fraternal & Irish Day, and Chil- ing platforms along the route. ending local rebellions in 1905 that up the Rufiji River, her crews sal- appeared to be a heavily fortified
dren’s Day. Seeing a great opportu- As the scale of the event grew resulted in famines that possibly vaged the ship’s guns before aban- Kigoma. Its massive guns were ac-
nity to contribute to and benefit so too did the prominence of the cost between 75,000 and 300,000 doning ship, one of which was fit- tually wooden dummies.
from the celebration, the German- German Day’s guest list. By the lives. As an interlude in his service ted to the Goetzen. Goetzen also Spicer-Simpson, humiliated af-
American Alliance decided to par- end of August German-American in Africa, he had also briefly served received two other guns. Together ter learning that he had fallen for
ticipate in the event by selecting Alliance President Richard as an observer with Theodore Roo- with the smaller Kingani and the the German ruse, never got his en-
Sept. 7 the last day of Old Home Lohrmann of Herkimer, Third Vice sevelt during the Spanish-Ameri- Hedwig von Wissmann, the Goet- gagement with the Goetzen. In-
Week as the day for the 1907 Ger- President Schreiber of Utica, Wer- can war, and married an American zen ensured German supremacy on stead Kigoma succumbed to aerial
man Day. ner Stretcher of Troy and Ferdi- Lake Tanganyika. bombardment (such as it was) and
By the time the Alliance de- nand Teute of Rochester all made Meanwhile, the British and the occupation by Allied ground
cided to join on to the Old Home plans to attend. keynote address where he spoke of Belgians were trying to find ways forces. In response Goetzen’s crew
Week celebration at the end of Finally on Sept. 7, following the German people in connection to neutralize German control of prepared to scuttle her so that she
June, a lot of preparation had al- Grand Marshal August Schroeder, with America and mentioned sev- Lake Tanganyika. To that end the could be salvaged later after Ger-
ready been underway. In January the Buffalo German Day formally eral of the great German-Ameri- British Admiralty was convinced to man forces regrouped. Engines and
cans who rose high in the service of
the German-American Alliance kicked off with a parade. German pursue a crazy plan to dispatch two boilers were coated in thick grease,
the United States.
took over the Deutchen Tag from Western New Yorkers and regular heavily armed and very maneuver- the ship was overloaded with sand-
While there were other speak-
the Deutsche Gesellschaft who had Buffalonians lined the streets and able speedboats to the lake in order bags and scuttled in about 70 feet
been running the event since its in- watched as a spectacle of 30 soci- ers, the German dancers, food, and to destroy Germany’s ships. The of water near Katabe Bay. The Ger-
ception in 1904. eties, bands, veterans groups, Turn- drink peeled away the crowd. The idea was to transport the small mans never did get their chance to
By May the committee in erverins, singers, and shooting Old Home Week Committee took boats in one piece so that no assem- regroup.
up their own table in the beer tent,
charge of arranging the event, clubs snaked through East Buffalo. bly would be required on arrival. In 1918 the Belgians refloated
which included George Weiss, Once in the park a united group which was being dutifully patrolled The admiralty gave command the Goetzen successfully enough to
George F. Lehmann, Charles H. of singing societies performed the by Police Commissioner Zeller, of the operation to Geoffrey Spicer- tow her back to Kigoma, where she
Schwenk, Alexander Kercher, Fer- "Shepherd's Sunday Song," by stein in hand. The evening con- Simpson. He seemed perfect for sank again in about 20 feet of wa-
dinand Susemhil, William F. Stutt, Kreutzer and a number of German cluded with the athletic competi- the job. Always daring to the point ter. The British took Kigoma in
tions and shooting matches which
Ernst G. Halbach, Ferdinand folk songs. Doctor Gaertner then of unstable, he had made a lot of 1921. Finding Goetzen’s engines
the “English” attendees took great
Berchen, Samuel Rautenherg and formally welcomed the throngs to enemies in the Royal Navy. Suffice and boilers in fine condition, they
delight in.
Dr. William Gaertner had chosen a the Day and Rev. C. G. Haas gave it to say that his experimentation rehabilitated the ship. In 1927, the
Like the rest of the Old Home
location, Teutonia Park, booked the invocation. Former Surrogate with His Majesty’s ships and the Goetzen, renamed Liemba, was
two bands, had a design for the en- Court Justice Jacob Stern gave the Week, the 1907 German Day was mishaps that routinely followed placed into service for the Tan-
marked as a great success not just cost the navy quite a few vessels. ganyika Railways and Port Service.
financially but in coaxing many Sending him off to Africa on what British rehabilitation of the ship
former Buffalonians to return to could be a suicide mission cost more than its original con-
their homeland, if only for a few promised to solve several British struction price.
days. problems at once. From 1927 onward with brief
Spicer-Simpson set off on his interruptions, the Liemba has con-
task, asking for – and getting – re- tinued to provide service on Lake
designs of the speedboats to make Tanganyika. In the 1970s, diesel
them both faster and more heavily engines replaced the German steam
armed. He named them Cat and engines, those diesels then replaced
Dog. The admiralty rejected the again in the 1990s. In the 1990s,
names as too silly. He then chose the Liemba performed yeoman ser-
Mimi and Toutou: in French, vice transporting refugees during
“Meow” and “Bow wow.” The ad- the First Congo War. In 2015 the
miralty accepted them. Liemba did the same for Burundian
The boats were shipped by sea refugees.
to Capetown in South Africa. From In the 2010s, recognizing the
there the boats had to go some 3000 history and heritage of the Liemba,
miles to their destination. That’s Germany itself played a role in re-
where the real fun began. furbishing it - despite noting that it
The boats were shipped by rail, would have been cheaper to scrap it
where that option existed, but in and build new. History and her-
places the boats had to be pulled itage won out, however, and the re-
overland and over mountains by stored Liemba continues to sail.
steam tractors, teams of oxen, and As a footnote, if any of the story
teams of local African men. Ironi- of World War I operations on Lake
cally, their passage down the Lual- Tanganyika seem familiar, they
aba River, which should have been should. They inspired a British
easy, was one of the most difficult novel by C.S. Forester: The African
legs of the journey. They routinely Queen, which in turn inspired a fa-
ran aground. Still they eventually mous movie by the same name star-
made their way to the Belgian port ring Katharine Hepburn and
of Lukaga on Lake Tanganyika. Humphrey Bogart.
After the launch of Mimi and