PEACEFUL PENETRATION – Germans in Angola

A research and art project by the Goethe-Institut Angola

In collaboration with Angolan artists Mussunda N’Zombo and Bruno Fonseca, the Goethe-Institut Angola has been searching for the past two years for traces of little-known chapters of German colonial presence in Angola. Drawing on reports and testimonies from German plantation owners who lived in Angola until 1975, we present a world of diplomatic documents, interviews with former workers, archival finds, films, and family accounts from descendants still living in Angola, as well as contemporary performance photographs.

This targeted emigration to Angola never involved any explicit territorial claims, but was promoted both directly and indirectly by the German Colonial School in Witzenhausen, secret agreements between England and Germany, corporate headquarters, colonial associations, and even West German postwar policy.



The exhibition presents this chapter of German-Angolan history from multiple perspectives and gives voice to a wide variety of voices.

Artist Mussunda N’Zombo will present a performance at the opening—in the presence of photographer Bruno Fonseca and eyewitnesses.

Concept: Mussunda N’Zombo, Bruno Fonseca, Julia Schreiner, Ngoi Salucombo, and Sarah Mfuende



ZAK / Project SpaceTranslated with DeepL

Runtime: Sat, 19/09/2026 to Sun, 03/01/2027

Takes place here:

• Zitadelle Spandau