Another group of about 20 objects was given to the Linden-Museum by Gustav Niederlein and William P. Wilson, the curators of the Philippine Exposition at the 1904 World Exposition in St. Louis. These objects, predominantly weapons and other objects that could be linked to “headhunting”, had been exhibited in St. Louis in to demonstrate the necessity of American “civilizing missions” in the Philippines. They thus show the entanglement of the Linden-Museum into colonial projects, even if - in this case - it was American rather than German projects. Small groups of very early objects are from German collectors Heinrich Spitz and Gustav Möricke respectively, about whom little is known so far.
Text: Dr. Georg Noack