Imperial Colonial Office

The Imperial Colonial Office (German: Reichskolonialamt) was a governmental agency of the German Empire tasked with managing Germany's overseas territories. Dissolved after World War I, on 20 February 1919 the Imperial Colonial Ministry (Reichskolonialministerium) of the German Weimar Republic replaced the Imperial Colonial Office, dealing with settlements and closing-out of affairs of the occupied and lost colonies.

Development and reorganization

From its inception in 1884, a colonial service organization performed administrative functions (policy and management) for the executive arm of the imperial government. By order of Reich Chancellor Leo von Caprivi on 1 April 1890, responsibility for the colonial service was with the Colonial Department (Kolonialabteilung), still as a subsection in the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), but led by a head of section answerable to the Chancellor. By the law of 18 July 1896 the department further co-supervised the colonial military or protection force, the Schutztruppe, with its headquarters (Kommando der Schutztruppen) formerly billeted in the Imperial Naval Office (Reichsmarineamt). By the late 19th century the need evolved for a separate, higher ranking agency that shall report directly to the Reich Chancellor.