Die Erfindung des Rassismus in Farbe

Robert Lohmeyer was born in Leipzig in 1879 as the son of the writer and colonial activist Julius Lohmeyer. He embarks on a scientific and technical career himself and begins to study chemistry. But Berlin and the German Reich were not enough for the young Lohmeyer. He is drawn to Africa.
The journey that Robert Lohmeyer embarks on in 1907 is a meticulously planned PR campaign by the German Reich, the propagandistic core of which continues to have an impact to this day. It is a pioneering photographic achievement that shapes the German image of Africa for decades. He is to photograph the German colonies in color for the first time at the height of imperialism in order to get the Germans excited about the distant possessions. The books with his photos reach large circulations. Even today, the images - especially digitally on the Internet - continue to find new distribution, even outside their original context of origin. The film tells the story of a chapter in the pioneering history of color and documentary photography, the story of a German propaganda coup and the story of a French vision. In Lohmeyer's case, it is also the invention of Africa and racism in color, which was exploited by the Nazis and continues to reverberate to this day.