By Bettina Göcmener and Sabine Klier
Two newly laid stumbling blocks at Gaudystrasse 5 commemorate the fate of Erika Ngambi ul Kuos and her husband Ludwig M’bebe Mpessa (1892–1951) during National Socialism.
M’bebe Mpessa was a political activist who found success as an actor under the stage name Louis Brody. The couple’s daughter, Beryl Adomako, also attended the event, which was attended by a large audience.
Ludwig M’bebe Mpessa and Erika Ngambi ul Kuos Photo: Ralf Lutter, Adomako
The couple temporarily lived in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district and were persecuted by the National Socialists. Since 1996, the stones have been laid in the street or sidewalk in front of the victims’ former homes.
The story of Erika Ngambi ul Kuos, née Diek, and her parents, the black Mandenga Diek from Cameroon and his white wife Emilie, is also currently being told in the exhibition “In the Footsteps of the Diek Family” in the Schöneberg Museum. The remarkable show with photos, objects, texts, videos, poems, listening stations, objects and art in three rooms reports on the historical fate of black people in Tempelhof-Schöneberg.
“From Mandenga Diek’s journey from Cameroon to Germany in 1891, the show follows the biographies of family members and those around them to the present day,” says co-curator Marie Becker (39). These are characterized by racism, discrimination and the lack of recognition of Afro-Germans, but also by their self-assertion.
The stones for Ludwig M’bebe Mpessa and Erika Ngambi ul Kuos Photo: Ralf Lutter
Afro-Germans have lived in Germany for several generations. Hundreds came from the colonies during the German Empire (1871-1918) and were presented in so-called “ethnic shows”. Others came to get an education. Cameroon has been under German colonial rule since 1894.