At the German monument service at Mulinu ’ u on 3 July 1932 , Hugo Gebauer was chosen to lay the wreath of remembrance on behalf of Samoa ’ s German community . He was one of three remaining German residents who had been in Samoa at the time of the 1888 Vailele incident and the 1889 hurricane which had both resulted in German Navy fatalities , which were commemorated on the memorial .
The Apia Brass Band played the moving “ Prayer to Zapfenstreich ,” a solemn tattoo reserved for important State occasions in Germany , and then Hugo stepped forward to place the official wreath . He is on the left in the monument photo . Pastor Raimund Reye is on the right . The individual photo of Mr Gebauer taken on the day of the commemoration service may have been one of his last ; he died eight months later on 28 April 1933 .
Composite from Spemann Family Collection
| To Walk Under Palm Trees - The Germans in Samoa : Snapshots from Albums | Tony Brunt
162