Alfred Schultz Album , photographer Reinhold Hofmann |
Chief Justice , Hans Teklenburg ( at left ), had the misfortune to be posted to Samoa by the German Colonial Office just a few months before the collapse of German rule in 1914 . Five years of internment followed which , according to internment medical records , exerted a tremendous mental strain on Mr Teklenburg .
Prior to his appointment to Samoa , Mr Teklenburg had been a judge and Deputy Governor in South West Africa , where he had acquired a reputation as authoritarian in approach . He may have been favoured as Samoa ’ s next German Governor . It is possible that following criticism in the German press of the mild and malleable administration in Apia , Mr Teklenburg had been selected to give local rule a more pronounced German flavour .
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Alfred Schultz Album , photographer Reinhold Hofmann |
Dr Kurt Sperling , was appointed as a District Judge in Samoa , taking up his position at the start of 1913 . This photo shows him outside his tent on Motuihe Island , Auckland , during the wartime internments . The internees were moved into tents during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic as a precaution to reduce the possibility of an outbreak spreading among prisoners . Dr Sperling was repatriated back to Germany in May 1919 on board the “ Willochra .” |