Das Album.

The album contains a large print of the photograph titled „Lager Nr. II“ from the Carl Vincenti studio, dated 1900. Theodor Schneemann wrote notes in pencil on the image, evidently intended to explain the scene to German viewers. In addition to labels such as „carrier,“ „Askari,“ or „coconut tree,“ the name „Symunza Bibi“ is marked with an arrow pointing to a woman on the edge of the photograph. „Symunza Bibi“—correctly, it should be „Bibi Symunza“—is Swahili and means „Mrs. Symunza“ or „Wife of Symunza.“
This is the only clue to the identity of a Black person found in all of Schneemann’s documents. The photograph is from 1900, but Schneemann did not arrive in Dar es Salaam until 1903. It is unclear who this woman was, why Schneemann knew her, and what his relationship to her might have been.
We aim to find out who Bibi Symunza was and if she has any living descendants today. To this end, we have reached out to the Tanzanian Embassy and Tanzanian diaspora networks in Germany, but so far, we have not had any results.