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.Liliencron recounted her feelings while watchinga ship full of colonial soldiers depart from Hamburg for the colony: Memories of the war years in the time of my youth appeared beforeme; like a fleeting vision they marched past in the mind.Thrilling cam-paigns of heroism and loyalty to the death, stormy advances and exul-a new colonial femininity 141 tant hurrahs, tenacious defense at danger-ridden posts, the spirit ofsacrifice and comradeship in their finest moment, and at the same timeblood and wounds and heroic death. "+" Liliencron s militaristic imagina-tion was so powerful that she seemed sometimes scarcely to distinguishbetween actual and vicarious experience of war.She now announced herown intention to enter the service of the colonial army, by which shemeant raising charity funds and increasing publicity inside Germany forthe colonial troops."&! With the aid of a colonial army oH"cer and theAfrican servant of Colonel Ludwig von Estor", a prominent com-mander in the German Southwest African war then visiting Berlin, shedrafted a play entitled In Africa.After she polished it with authenticdetails according to their suggestions, In Africa played for three eve-nings to sold-out audiences."`" Liliencron had long been producing na-tionalist verses and plays; now her colonialist writing career began.Inquick succession she published a songbook commemorating the Ger-man Southwest African war with original verses to be sung to familiarmelodies and an anthology of letters she had received from colonialarmy oH"cers and enlisted soldiers." " She selected the letters from amongthe thirty or so a day that she received during the war.Her verses alsoappeared on commemorative postcards of the war.In colonialist circlesshe soon bore the a"ectionate nickname Baroness of Africa. "d"When Liliencron became chairwoman of the Women s League, itgained the services of a successful one-woman colonialist propagandaenterprise.The league s first major fund-raising event was a revival of InAfrica."e" Unlike Frieda von Bülow, whose colonial writing reputationrested on the authenticity of her colonial experience, Liliencron pro-duced yards of colonialist text without ever having seen any colony.Liliencron savored her inauthentic yet vivid colonial persona: Almostwithout exception, the first questions that strangers ask of me now are: How long were you over there? Have you become acclimatized againback here? etc.Rather than admit that I was never in Southwest Africa,I would prefer most of all to answer: In spirit I was over there for years,took part in the entire orlog [war] and know perhaps as much about it assome who were personally in the precious, thorny land. "" The GermanSouthwest African war allowed Liliencron to create her own version ofthe military stories and fantasies that had obsessed her all her life.The142 german women for empire colonial soldiers and oH"cers mythologized her as a perfect pioneer andcolonist.Fantastical anecdotes about the Baroness of Africa reachedher ears: From Southwest Africa, out of the south, I heard lately thatthey say I was in the colony for years and I possessed a special gift fortraining the natives to work and for taming the skittish animals of thewilderness.A springbok followed me like a dog, and on my shoulder sata tame chameleon. "" The two talents the soldiers attributed to her aretelling: the e"ortless disciplining of African laborers and the ability tocommune with and thereby control the natural environment.Appar-ently they derived comfort from the image of a mythical feminine colo-nizer who had e"ortlessly preceded their violent final conquest of thecolony.Liliencron wanted to continue mothering the colonial soldiers af-ter the war, and the new Women s League with its administration of thewomen s settlement scheme provided just such an opportunity.Lilien-cron saw nothing wrong with sending women to work at temporarymenial jobs on the assumption that they would soon marry
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