143
rie in Leiden (Finsch 1899b), where he was deeply
unhappy. He also felt strongly that his efforts in
realizing Germany’s colonial ambitions had not
received suffi cient recognition. In 1904, his own
repeated pleas and interventions on his behalf by
friends and well-wishers succeeded in obtaining
him an honorarium of 1,000 Reichsmarks a year
from the Reichshauptkasse (treasury) in Berlin.
He returned to Germany the same year to take
up a more congenial position as curator of the
ethnological collection at the Städtisches Museum
in Braunschweig, where he remained until his
death in 1917. His last major publication, Südseearbeiten
(Pacifi c Products, 1914), was devoted
to the material culture of the Pacifi c.
Finsch’s legacy as an anthropologist and ethnologist
is diffi cult to assess. As already mentioned,
his beliefs about human difference were
profoundly challenged by his experiences in
the fi eld, and he continued to derive authority
and expertise from these experiences long after
he had returned to Germany. However, his attempts
to change prevailing opinions fell largely
on deaf ears. Further, his involvement with the
Neuguinea Kompagnie’s colonial ventures had
helped open up an ethnographic frontier that
proved such a fertile fi eld for further research
that his own observations and collections were
soon dwarfed by a fl ood of new material.
This essay is adapted from Hilary Howes, 2018. “A
‘Perceptive Observer’ in the Pacifi c: Life and Work of
Otto Finsch,” in Bérose - Encyclopédie internationale
des histoires de l’anthropologie, Paris, IIAC-LAHIC, UMR
8177. ISSN 2648-2770.
With thanks to Dr. Laurel Kendall, curator of Asian Ethnology
at the AMNH.
REFERENCES
Anon., 1884a. Germany in the Pacifi c. Statement by the
Standard. “Extensive Annexations Agreed to by England.”
Argus, 23 December, p. 5.
———, 1884b. Cablegrams. Germany and the Pacifi c.
Comprehensive annexation scheme. Evening News, 23
December, p. 4.
———, 1884c. Special telegrams. Tasmanian, 27 December,
p. 15.
Finsch, Otto, 1882. Ueber seine in den Jahren 1879 bis 1882
unternommenen Reisen in der Südsee. Verhandlungen der
Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin, 10: 553–564.
———, 1883. “Menschenfresser in Neubritannien,” Illustrirte
Zeitung, 81 (2107): 445, 450.
———, 1888. Samoafahrten. Reisen in Kaiser Wilhelms-Land
und Englisch-Neu-Guinea in den Jahren 1884 und 1885 an
Bord des Deutschen Dampfers »Samoa«. Leipzig: Ferdinand
Hirt & Sohn.
———, 1893. Ethnologische Erfahrungen und Belegstücke aus
der Südsee. Beschriebender Katalog einer Sammlung im k.
k. naturhistorischen Hofmuseum in Wien. Vienna: Alfred
Hölder.
———, 1899a. Systematische Uebersicht der Ergebnisse
seiner Reisen und schriftstellerischen Tätigkeit (1859–
1899). Berlin: R. Friedländer & Sohn.
———, 1899b. Letter to Rudolf Virchow, 5 October 1899.
NL Virchow, Nr. 607: 70 Briefe von Otto Finsch an Rudolf
Virchow aus den Jahren 1874–1909. Archive of the Berlin-
Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Berlin, Germany.
Luschan, F. von (1897). Beiträge zur Völkerkunde der
deutschen Schutzgebiete. Erweiterte Sonderausgabe aus
dem „Amtlichen Bericht über die erste deutsche Kolonial-
Ausstellung“ in Treptow 1896. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer (Ernst
Vohsen).
Schmeltz, J.D.E. (1894) Review of Dr. O. Finsch:
Ethnologische Erfahrungen und Belegstücke. 3te Abth.:
Mikronesien. Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie, 7:
265–269.
OTTO FINSCH
The American Museum of Natural History holds a substantial archive of visual
materials and ethnography material collected by Otto Finsch. The drawings,
watercolors, and much of the documentation in this collection, from which the
imagery in this article is drawn, can be accessed online at
https://anthro.amnh.org/fi nsch_archive
FIG. 21 (left): Mounted
watercolor by Otto and
Elisabeth Finsch (1892–97):
Britisch-Neu-Guinea.
Koiäri; Astrolabe Geb.
(Southwestern New
Guinea. Koiali; Astrolabe
Range).
Dr. O. Finsch: “Beiträge zur
Völkerkunde der westlichen Südsee.”
Originalbilder, Taf. 163, IV.
Eingeborene, Taf. XX.
Hand inscribed on reverse:
Eingeborene, Taf. XX (S.149) /
NeuGuinea / Koiärikrieger mit
Steinkeule und “Musikaka” /
Astrolabe Gebirge, Dorf Mokanu,
District Schogäri.
Watercolor on paper in annotated
cardboard mount.
Courtesy of the Division of
Anthropology, American Museum
of Natural History, New York, Finsch
Archive, box 59.
FIG. 22 & 23 (above and
left): Baumhaus in Milne-
Bai (Milne Bay treehouse).
Lithograph (above) after an
original (left) by Otto and
Elizabeth Finsch.
(Above) From Otto Finsch,
Samoafahrten. Reisen in Kaiser
Wilhems-Land und English-Neu-
Guinea …, Leipzig: Ferdinand Hirt &
Sohn, 1888, p. 272.
(Left) Dr. O. Finsch: “Beiträge zur
Völkerkunde der westlichen Südsee.”
Originalbilder, Taf. 17, I.
Wohnstätten, Taf. XVII.
Hand inscribed on reverse:
Wohnstätten, Taf. XVII (S.140) /
Neu Guinea /Baumhaus in Bau /
Milne-Bai.
Watercolor on paper in annotated
cardboard mount.
Courtesy of the Division of
Anthropology, American Museum
of Natural History, New York, Finsch
Archive, box 29.
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