My Father's Africa Album 1920's


My father, Heinz Arthur Sonntag, onboard a steamer between Lisbon and Malaga, in the late 1920s.	Heinz Sonntag in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in December 1927.	My father, at left, in colonial safari garb. It was obviously not a fresh kill.	European colonials enjoying a way of life soon to be eclipsed by nationalist movements throughout the continent.
My father with his crew of African workers. They called him "Bawa Sandag, (Boss or Chief Sonntag)".	My father was proud of his work in Tanzania. Germany was commended for having established an excellent system of education in their colonies.	The caption of this portrait reads, in part, “Miza, my Negro overseer.” My father took numerous portraits of the Africans he worked among.	“Bawa Sandag” on his motorcycle. No doubt my father was caught up in the excitement of the new machines of the age. Upon his return to Germany he raced cars, coming in second at the annual Nürnberg race, equivalent to France’s Grand Prix.
The caption reads “My overseer tallying up the workers’ daily production.”	My father and a friend enjoying a “motorboot” cruise, one of many pleasures open to the colonials.	My father was fascinated by local customs. The caption reads, in part, “Workers and friends of Heinz.”	My father as a young man. He was about twenty-four years old when he posed for this portrait.
The Dominicks House. My father was related to the Dominicks family on his mother’s side and got the job in Tanzania through them. Note that he took care to point out the kitchen and his motorcycles.	This interior of another colonial home shows the comforts the Europeans brought with them to Africa.	A German family enjoying their “Abenbrot” or evening meal.	My father overseeing the work. The caption reads “Dried bricks being carried away.”
My father, in white, enjoying a more traditional boat ride up a river.