For the First German Colonial Exhibition (1 May – 15 October 1896), the German Foreign Office recruited and transported 106 people from colonial territories to Germany to be displayed in a “Völkerschau” (public display of members of particular ethnic groups, in the English world often called “human zoo”) before the Berlin public. Among them were 17 Maasai from East Africa: seven men, five women, and five children. They were the first Maasai to set foot in Europe.

By the late nineteenth century, the Maasai had gained a reputation in Europe as “noble” yet “fierce” warriors. To entertain the Berlin audience, they were forced to perform in nightly shows, staging mock deadly attacks on other African groups—only to be “defeated” by Europeans in the end. This spectacle reinforced the myth of Europe’s “civilizing mission”. The performances apparently fascinated visitors, and even the German Kaiser took a particular liking to the Maasai warriors.

This article attempts to reconstruct the history of the Maasai participants from former “German East Africa” at the Colonial Exhibition—and traces the legacy they left behind in both Europe and Tanzania.