Plot summary

When Hamburg University was founded in 1919, it was proud to be the first university of a new, democratic Germany. But the university didn't come from nothing. As early as 1909, professors and politicians had founded the Hamburg Colonial Institute. Responding to genocide and bloody wars in German colonies, they tried to give colonialism a "scientific" foundation. This film wanders through the archives and collections of Hamburg University, its greenhouses and labs, to find traces of colonialism, to track down this intricate entanglement of science and colonialism. It sets out on an expedition to Central Africa, reads letters of an African language assistant, and searches for a skull he is not allowed to see.

When Hamburg University was founded in 1919, it was proud to be the first university of a new, democratic Germany. But the university didn't come from nothing. As early as 1909, professors and politicians had founded the Hamburg Colonial Institute. Responding to genocide and bloody wars in German colonies, they tried to give colonialism a "scientific" foundation. This film wanders through the archives and collections of Hamburg University, its greenhouses and labs, to find traces of colonialism, to track down this intricate entanglement of science and colonialism. It sets out on an expedition to Central Africa, reads letters of an African language assistant, and searches for a skull he is not allowed to see.

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