Deconstructing a National Hero: The Changing Representation of the Prussian Sailor and Slave Trader Joachim Nettelbeck, 1807 to Present

Joachim Nettelbeck (1738–1824) was a Prussian sailor who worked as a first mate on Dutch slavers, lobbied with three Prussian kings for the acquisition of overseas colonies, and became famous when his hometown Kolberg was under siege by Napoleonic troops in 1807. This article traces the heroization of Nettelbeck during the past two centuries and analyzes how this representation faced eventual crisis. After providing an account of Nettelbeck's biography, it examines how Nettelbeck was made a national hero and how his participation in the transatlantic slave trade was repressed in this process. Finally, it describes how decolonial civil society initiatives have shifted the public perception of Nettelbeck since 2008.