Architecture and city planning projects of the German Democratic Republic in Zanzibar: Fid-Bau Portal

Architecture and city planning projects of the German Democratic Republic in Zanzibar

Wimmelbücker, Ludger

After the first postcolonial government was overthrown in January, 1964, Zanzibar adopted a socialist course and shifted its international orientations towards the USSR and China. Delegates of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) swiftly entered consultations with the revolutionary government in order to strengthen bilateral relations by making substantial contributions to modernisation and economic advancement. The GDR thus emerged as Zanzibar's most important cooperation partner between 1964 and 1969. From the beginning, the construction of modern flats was among the priorities of the Revolutionary Council that anticipated the political importance of corresponding projects and their potential for changing the public face of society.

This article examines the contributions of GDR experts in the field of architecture and city planning against the background of prevailing political conditions. Taking into account the ideas and demands of leading politicians in Zanzibar, it reveals the changing nature and relevance of their work, commencing with the application of plans produced in the GDR. During the following years, they were able to realise the concepts that they developed in cooperation with the Zanzibar government, but in the final period their options for providing critical advice and expert knowledge were more limited. Therefore, the large-scale construction project, which was initiated by the Revolutionary Council, reflects not so much the transfer of concepts by GDR architects as the active adaptation and realisation of a modernising vision by the revolutionary regime.