Expedition nach Westafrika

It's a key moment in the race of European powers for access to African territories and waterways on the equator: Henry Morton Stanley, a journalist and unscrupulous self-made man, hastily makes his way inland along the Congo with a rifle and dynamite for the Belgian king. Meanwhile, Pierre Savognan de Brazza, a Venetian aristocrat and officer, is exploring the Ogowe River, which flows north of the Congo, between 1874 and 1882. He is inspired by adventure and the values of the French Republic. Under the French flag he liberates slaves, makes friendship contracts and coalitions with locals. He promises prosperity and peace. Then he finds a navigable tributary of the Congo and comes to its northern bank Stanley beforehand. His lectures and letters, first translated into German, tell of de Brazza's expeditions and his futile verse.