Afterlives of colonialism in the everyday: Street names and the (un)making of imperial debris

This chapter addresses the entanglement of national and local decolonisations through the case studies of two colonial heroes, Hermann von Wissmann and Jan Pieterszoon Coen, and their memorialisation in national and local histories in Germany and the Netherlands. It will peel back the layers of myth surrounding these ‘celebrity colonialists’, to reveal the mechanisms behind their ascent and their remarkable resilience in popular memory. The chapter investigates significant moments of counter-memory that have challenged their continued integration into the daily lives of ‘post-colonial’ citizens. Scholars have argued that commemorative street names are an essentially modern, Western phenomenon that was introduced in Paris in the late eighteenth century. Many of Wissmann’s actions in East Africa would be considered war crimes according to the international laws established after the Second World War.