A Berlin street was officially renamed on Saturday for an 18th-century African philosopher after years of debate over its previous name that many considered outdated and offensive.
The local council in the central Mitte district announced in 2020 that it wanted to change the name of the street from Mohrenstrasse (Moors’ Street) to Anton Wilhelm Amo Street, after the first black philosopher known to have taught at a German university.
The Mohrenstrasse metro station also took the new name on Saturday, a date chosen to coincide with the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade.
In comparison with the English word “Moor”, the German term carries a more direct connotation of skin colour and has long been considered pejorative and offensive.
Sharon Dodua Otoo, a British writer and activist who lives in Germany, unveiled one of the street signs alongside district mayor Stefanie Remlinger.
“Anton Wilhelm Amo Street stands for solidarity, for appreciation. For a truly appreciative remembrance of African people in 17th century Germany,” Otoo said.
“It’s a great success for civil society, which has been pushing for a name change for more than 30 years,” said Tahir Della, from the group Decolonize Berlin, which organised celebrations to mark the name change.
“It makes clear why the former name is so problematic for many black people in Germany,” he said.
The origins of the name Moors’ Street are unclear.
It dates back to the early 18th century, the height of the Atlantic slave trade, and some suggested it may refer to former slaves who settled there.
Another theory is that it refers to a visiting African diplomatic delegation.
Whatever its precise origins, Della said the name is a “racist description for black people”.
However, some local residents mounted legal challenges against the council to try to stop the renaming.
A last-minute court decision on Friday briefly threatened to derail the process, even after workers had already begun switching the street signs.
But a higher court overturned the decision hours later, allowing the renaming to go ahead.
Anton Wilhelm Amo, born around 1700 in what is today Ghana, is believed to have been sold into slavery and then brought to Europe.
Amo was “just a child when he was brought from west Africa” to Germany, Otoo said.
Amo later had the opportunity to receive an education that took him to the prestigious universities of Wittenberg, Halle and Jena, becoming an important figure in Germany’s Enlightenment period.
Decolonize Berlin says the new name honours a symbol of “resistance, self-affirmation and knowledge in the African diaspora”.
Della said he hopes the renaming will serve as an “impetus for further discussions on public spaces”, pointing to debates on other street names in Berlin honouring figures from Germany’s colonial past.
