CARL WILHELM ÖBERG
95
FIG. 3 (below): Map illustrating the islands and waters of the former German Bismarck Archipelago
where C. W. Öberg lived and worked, especially within the area marked in pink.
Meyers Konversations-Lexikon 4. Auflg. 1890. Private collection.
Photo © Thomas Otte Stensager.
FIG. 2 (above left): German
newspaper clipping, noted
by H. Nevermann “1933.”
The caption reads: Death of
the King of the South Seas.
The explorer Karl Wilhelm
Oeberg, known as the “King
of the South Seas,” died
at the age of 77 in Säter
in his Swedish homeland.
After adventurous journeys
around the world, Oeberg
settled in Oceania around
1880. Here he gained the
confidence of the natives
in such a way that he was
appointed the chief of
one of the Tasman Isles
and for over 30 years
ruled there like a king. His
ethnographically significant
collection is in the Museum
of Stora Skedvi in Sweden. -
The late researcher reading
his logbook.
Collection Loed van Bussel.
Photo © Bart van Bussel.
substantial and interesting project involving research,
queries, and travel was ahead.
This article was planned and structured by van
Bussel and this author before the former’s alltoo
sudden passing. While not a traditional biography,
it tells the story of our discovery of the
unique story of Carl Wilhelm Öberg, who went
to sea as a young man and eventually settled in
the former German Bismarck Archipelago, far
from his native home in Sweden, attracted both
by the remoteness and profitable possibilities
that existed there in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. There he developed an abiding
interest in the art of the region.
THE NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS
The two newspaper clippings are intriguing, not
in the least because they were carefully saved by
Nevermann, who glued them onto a sheet of archival
paper, noting the release years as “Dezbr.
1930” (fig. 1) and “1933” (fig. 2), before filing
them in his personal archive.
Through his studies in anthropology, oriental
languages, and ancient history, Nevermann
obtained his PhD in 1924 before working at
the Museum für Völkerkunde in Hamburg. In
1931 he was appointed curator of the Oceanic
Department (Südseeabteilung) of the Museum
für Völkerkunde in Berlin, while also working
for the Museum für Völkerkunde in Dresden.
From his positions at three major ethnological
museums of the time, he would have had access
to good information about the museums’ collections,
objects, archives, and other historical resources
resulting from the German colonial possessions
in the South Seas and certainly would
have had knowledge about individuals who had
been involved in their formation.
German colonial activity in the South Seas occurred
between 1884 and 1914, and although
Nevermann was not born until 1902, he still
would have had innumerable opportunities in