Timeline of Douala

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Douala, Cameroon.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 20th century

• 1845 - Alfred Saker arrives in Douala.
• 1849 - Native Baptist Church of Douala built.
• 1859 (July 8) - Arrangement Anglo-douala signed.
• 1868 - The company Woermann-Linie in Cameroon
• 1881 - The company Woermann-Linie receives the authorization to build a factory (trading post) in Deido.
• 1884 - Germans in power (the treaty between the Douala and Germans is signed; Cameroon becomes a German protectorate.
• 1885 - Construction (1885-1890) of a prefabricate iron house for King Ndumbe Lobe.
• 1886 - The Protestant Mission of Basel takes the place of the Mission of London.
• 1887 (February) - Construction of the postoffice.
• 1888
  • (March) - Construction of a school in Joss (directed by Théodor Christaller arrived in Cameroon in 1887).
  • Construction of a brickyard (before, building materials were imported by Germans from Hamburg).
  • Fracture between the Protestant Mission of Basel and the "Natives". Construction of a new church by the natives and led by Josua Dibundu.
• 1890 - First documented plan of the city, Deutsches Kolonial Blatt.
• 1891 - German government headquarters built.
• 1893 - Revolt of the German troops composed of former slaves of Dahomey enrolled in the German army to pay back their liberation.
• 1896 - General Hospital built.
• The German Baptists Missioners of Berlin arrive in Cameroon.

20th century

• 1901 - Kamerunstadt renamed "Douala."^[1]
• 1905 - Palace of the Kings Bell built.
• 1906 - Mwendi Ma Musango Baptist newspaper begins publication.^[2]
• 1907
  • Capital of German Cameroon relocated from Douala to Buea.^[3]
• 1908 - Elolombe Ya Cameroun Protestant newspaper begins publication.^[2]
• 1909 - The railway line Bonaberi-Nkongsamba (160 km) is inaugurated.
• 1910
  • Villa Mandessi Bell (residence) built.
  • Robbery from Deutsch Westafrikanische Bank.^[4]
  • Population: 22,000.^[5]
• 1911 - The railway line Douala-Edea is inaugurated
• 1913
  • Eseka-Douala railway constructed.^[4]
  • The German urban plan is implemented by moving the population to New Deido, New Akwa and New Bell and by creating a 1 km Freie Zone to separate those areas from the European city.
• 1914
  • September: British forces in Douala.^[6][7]
  • New Bell established.^[8]
• 1917 (February) Louis-Ferdinand Céline is hospitalized in Douala.
• 1919 - Town becomes part of French Cameroun.
• 1921 - Capital of French Cameroun relocated from Douala to Yaounde.^[4]
• 1927 - Oryx Douala football club formed.
• 1928 - Chamber of Commerce building constructed.
• 1930 - Mbale newspaper begins publication.^[2]
• 1931
  • Palace of Justice built.
  • Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of Douala established.
• 1936 - Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Douala built.
• 1941 - Radio Douala begins broadcasting.^[2]
• 1944 - Population: 37,751.^[4]
• 1945 - Riots.^[9]
• 1948 - Brasseries du Cameroun in business.
• 1949
  • Association des femmes de l'Union Francaise au Cameroun headquartered in Douala.^[10]
  • Population: 67,925.^[4]
• 1954 - Bonaberi Bridge built.
• 1955
  • L'Effort Camerounais^[11][12] and La Presse du Cameroun newspapers begin publication.^[2]
  • Construction of the bridge between Douala and Bonaberi.
• 1956 - Population: 124,703.^[4]
• 1957 - Union Douala football club formed.
• 1958 - Stade Akwa built.
• 1959 - 31 December: Unrest.^[13][14]
• 1960 - 1 January: City becomes part of the Republic of Cameroon.^[13]
• 1963 - Centre Culturel Americain active.^[15]
• 1964 - Centre Culturel Francais active.^[15]
• 1965 - Pan African Institute for Development regional headquarters established in Douala.^[16]
• 1972
  • Stade de la Réunification built.
  • February–March: City hosts 1972 African Cup of Nations.
• 1974
  • Commune Urbaine de Douala (urban council) established.^[17]
  • Cameroon Tribune newspaper begins publication.
• 1978 - American School founded.^[18]
• 1979 - Le Messager newspaper begins publication.^[19]
• 1986 - Maritime Museum founded.
• 1987 - Communauté urbaine de Douala created.^[17]
• 1990 - Population: 931,000 (urban agglomeration).^[20]
• 1991
  • General strike.^[21]
  • Doual'art (art centre) founded.^[22]
• 1992 - Commune Urbaine d`Arrondissement Douala V created.^[17]
• 1993 - University of Douala founded.^[23]
• 1997 - Commercial Bank Cameroon and Commercial Bank Group headquartered in city.
• 1999 - Festival International de Voix de Femmes begins (women's fest).^[24]

21st century

• 2000 - Population: 1,432,000 (urban agglomeration).^[20]
• 2001 - Douala Stock Exchange and Accueil Femmes Francophones de Douala founded.^[25]
• 2002
  • World Bank Douala Infrastructure Project launched.^[26]
  • Astres Football Club formed.
• 2004 - March: Taxi strike.^[27]
• 2005
  • City website online (approximate date).^[28]
  • Art biennale begins.
  • Population: 1,907,479.^[29]
• 2007
  • Salon Urbain de Douala (art fair) begins.^[30]
  • 5 May: Airplane crash near city.
• 2008
  • February: Anti-government protest.^[31]
  • City becomes capital of Littoral Region (Cameroon).
• 2010 - Drinking water shortage.^[32]

See also

• Neighborhoods of Douala
• Years in Cameroon

References

1. Derrick 1980.
2. Muluh Henry; Ndoh Bertha (2002), "Evolution of the Media in Cameroon", in Festus Eribo; Enoh Tanjong, Journalism and mass communication in Africa: Cameroon, Lanham, Maryland, USA: Lexington Books, ISBN 0739103776
3. Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon 1920.
4. Ralph A. Austen; Jonathan Derrick (1999), Middlemen of the Cameroons Rivers: the Duala and their hinterland, c.1600-c.1960, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521562287
5. "Cameroon", Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.), New York, 1910, OCLC 14782424
6. Paul G. Halpern (1994), A naval history of World War I, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0870212664
7. Stephen Pope; Elizabeth-Anne Wheal (1995). "Select Chronology". Dictionary of the First World War. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-85052-979-1.
8. Schler 2002.
9. Joseph 1974.
10. Meredith Terretta (2013). Petitioning for Our Rights, Fighting for Our Nation: The History of the Democratic Union of Cameroonian Women, 1949-1960. Bamenda: Langaa. ISBN 9789956728053.
11. "L'Effort Camerounais in Brief". Douala: National Bishop's Conference of Cameroon. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
12. "Cameroon: News". Africa South of the Sahara. USA: Stanford University. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
13. Victor T. Le Vine (1968). "The Trauma of Independence in French-Speaking Africa". Journal of Developing Areas 2. JSTOR 4189457.
14. "Terrorists Raid Cameroons Port", New York Times, 1 January 1960
15. World Guide to Libraries (25th ed.), De Gruyter Saur, 2011, ISBN 9783110230710
16. "IPD-AC". Institut Panafricain pour le Développement Afrique Centrale. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
17. "Historique" (in French). Ville de Douala. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
18. "About Us". American School of Douala. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
19. "Douala (Cameroon) Newspapers". WorldCat. USA: Online Computer Library Center. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
20. "The State of African Cities 2010: Governance, Inequalities and Urban Land Markets". United Nations Human Settlements Programme. 2010.
21. "Strike Aims to Bleed Cameroon's Economy to Force President's Fall". New York Times. 5 August 1991.
22. "Doual'art". Douala. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
23. "Presentation generale de l'Université de Douala" (in French). L'Université de Douala. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
24. "Historique du festival" (in French). Massao. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
25. "Accueil Femmes Francophones de Douala" (in French). Fédération Internationale des Accueils Français et francophones à l'Etranger. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
26. "Cameroon - Douala Infrastructure Project". Washington, DC: World Bank. 2010.
27. Piet Konings (2011). Politics of Neoliberal Reforms in Africa: State and Civil Society in Cameroon. Langaa. ISBN 995671741X.
28. "Site officiel de la Communauté Urbaine de Douala" (in French). Archived from the original on June 2005 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
29. "Population of capital cities and cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants". Demographic Yearbook 2011. United Nations Statistics Division. 2012.
30. "Public Art and Urban Change in Douala". Domus. 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
31. Mark D. DeLancey; et al. (2010), Historical dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon (4th ed.), Lanham, Maryland, USA: Scarecrow Press, ISBN 9780810858244
32. Fanny Pigeaud (2011). "Cameroon". In Andreas Mehler; et al. Africa Yearbook: Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara in 2010. Koninklijke Brill. pp. 211–220. ISBN 90-04-20556-X.

This article incorporates information from the French Wikipedia and the German Wikipedia.

Bibliography

in English

• D. Gardinier (1969). "Urban Politics in Douala, Cameroun". African Urban Notes 4.
• Joyce Sween; Remi Clignet (1969). "Urban Unemployment as a Determinant of Political Unrest: The Case Study of Douala, Cameroon". Canadian Journal of African Studies 3.
• Remi Clignet; Frank Jordan (1971). "Urbanization and Social Differentiation in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of the Ecological Structures of Douala and Yaoundé". Cahiers d'Études Africaines 11.
• Richard A. Joseph (1974). "Settlers, Strikers and Sans-Travail: The Douala Riots of September 1945". Journal of African History 15. JSTOR 180996.
• Jonathan Derrick (1980). "The 'Germanophone' Elite of Douala under the French Mandate". Journal of African History 21. JSTOR 182138.
• Lynn Schler (2002). "Looking through a Glass of Beer: Alcohol in the Cultural Spaces of Colonial Douala, 1910-1945". International Journal of African Historical Studies 35. JSTOR 3097616.
• Lynn Schler (2003). "Ambiguous Spaces: The Struggle over African Identities and Urban Communities in Colonial Douala, 1914-45". Journal of African History 44.
• Lynn Schler (2003). "Bridewealth, Guns and Other Status Symbols: Immigration and Consumption in Colonial Douala". Journal of African Cultural Studies 16.
• Poverty and Urban Mobility in Douala, World Bank, 2004
• Abdou Maliqalim Simone (2004), "The Spectral: Assembling Douala, Cameroon", For the City Yet to Come: Changing African Life in Four Cities, Duke University Press, ISBN 9780822334347
• Lynn Schler (2005). "History, the Nation-State, and Alternative Narratives: An Example from Colonial Douala". African Studies Review 48.
• Lucia Babina and Marilyn Douala Bell, ed. (2007). Douala in Translation: A View of the City and its Creative Transformative Potentials. Rotterdam: Episode.
• Marta Dorenda-Zaborowicz (2011). "Douala: A City of Lost Hopes? Consequences of Decolonisation in Africa Versus Sustainable Development". Problemy Ekorozwoju - Problems of Sustainable Development 6.
• Michaela Alejandra Oberhofer (2012), "Fashioning African Cities: The Case of Johannesburg, Lagos and Douala", Streetnotes (20), ISSN 2159-2926 – via California Digital Library

in French

• R. Gouellain (1975). Douala: Ville et Histoire (in French). Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie, Musee de l'Homme.
• Adrien Bitond (2012). "Les foyers socioculturels a Douala, 'villages en ville' ou espaces publics de proximite?". In Thomas Atenga, Georges Madib. La communication au Cameroun (in French). Archives contemporaines. ISBN 9782813000927.
• "Douala". Cameroun. Le Petit Futé (in French). 2012.

in German

• Ernst Vollbehr (1912), "Duala", Mit Pinsel und Palette durch Kamerun (in German), Leipzig: List & von Bressensdorf, OCLC 9352214
• "Duala". Deutsches Kolonial-Lexikon (in German). Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer. 1920.
• Andreas Eckert (1999). Grundbesitz, Landkonflikte und kolonialer Wandel: Douala 1880 bis 1960 (in German). Stuttgart: Steiner.

External links

• "(Articles related to Douala)". Connecting-Africa. Leiden, Netherlands: African Studies Centre.
• Digital Public Library of America. Items related to Douala, various dates
• University of Southern California. Old photos of Douala, various dates
• "(Items related to Douala)". Internet Library Sub-Saharan Africa. Germany: Frankfurt University Library.