THE LAWYER
Albert Hermann Heinrich Schnee was born in Neuhaldensleben on February 4, 1871, just weeks after the rise of the Second Reich. He was the son of District Court Councilor Hermann Schnee and Emily (née Scheibe). After attending school in Nordhausen, Schnee studied law in Heidelberg as a member of the Corps Rhenania Heidelberg. He also studied in Kiel and Berlin (where he received his doctorate in jurisprudence in 1893).
In 1897, Schnee began his work in the Federal Foreign Office. One year later, he became a judge… as well as Deputy Governor of German New Guinea. Schnee then became District Officer and Deputy Governor of German Samoa in 1900. While in New York in 1901, Schnee married New Zealand actress Ada Adeline Woodhill.
After 1904, Schnee again served as Legation Councilor in the Colonial Department of the German Foreign Office. The next year he became Colonial Advisory Councilor of the London Embassy. Schnee further expanded his brief by becoming Lecturing Councilor in 1906 and Dirigent in 1907. From 1911 onwards, he was Ministerial Director and head of the political and administrative division in Berlin’s Imperial Colonial Office.
GERMAN EAST AFRICA
From 1912 until the end of the Great War, Heinrich Schnee served as the last governor of German East Africa. He held supreme military command… but soon, Schnee was in frequent disagreements over defensive strategy with the commander of the Schutztruppe, General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. Ultimately, Lettow-Vorbeck prevailed with his guerrilla tactics and increasingly assumed control of operations. Schnee, besides his administrative responsibilities, also had to reconcile his family.
According to Wilhelm Methner, who served as Schnee’s first secretary:
“…the wife of the governor, who was English by birth, suffered the bitter fate of seeing the sons of her fatherland and of her adoptive country in battle against each other. This brave and upright woman had to bear with much hostility.”
On March 2, 1919, Schnee and Lettow-Vorbeck led the returning fighters from East Africa through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
THE COLONIAL POLICY EXPERT
After the First World War, Schnee became a member of the Reichstag. He represented the German People’s Party up until 1932. There were some press speculations at that time about Schnee becoming Chancellor. For the next twelve years, he held a Reichstag seat, but as a member of the Nazi Party. The reason for Schnee’s continued involvement in politics was his understanding of “an active colonial policy.” However, such an agenda was not among the interests of the Third Reich.
Schnee was also known internationally as a leading representative of German colonial interests. He was also invited repeatedly to lectures in the United States and other European countries. Schnee was appointed to the League of Nations’ Manchuria Commission (a.k.a. the Lytton Commission), which negotiated with China and Japan over their military conflict and influence in Manchuria.
THE LATE ASSOCIATION OFFICIAL
In 1926, Schnee became president of the Federation of Germans Abroad, a position he held for seven years. From 1930 until 1936, Schnee served as the last president of the German Colonial Society (DKG). It was eventually supplanted by the Reichskolonialbund (RKB).
After the Second World War, the Allies considered Schnee a criminal, because he held a Reichstag seat as a member of the Nazi Party… thus, he could not continue his work. On June 23, 1949, Heinrich Schnee (lawyer, colonial civil servant, politician, writer, and association official) died in a car accident in Berlin at the age of seventy-eight. He was buried in a cemetery near the highway.