Reviews & Press : : More Than Merchants

The Star, 11 June 2006
by Ng Su-Ann

Penang’s German link revealed

PENANG: What do Gottlieb Road and the Kapitan Keling Mosque in Penang have in common?

It may surprise you, but both have German links.

The road was named after German lawyer Felix Henri Gottlieb who served in the Straits Settlements government from 1846 to 1882 while the Moghul-style domed mosque was built and designed by German architect Henry Alfred Neubronner.

These facts are featured in the book, More Than Merchants by Penang’s heritage proponent Khoo Salma Nasution.

MORE THAN A TEXT: Khoo Salma holding up a copy of her book on Germans in Penang.

She said Neubronner also designed some of Penang’s other early 20th century landmarks such as the ABN-AMRO building, the HSBC building and the Chung Hwa Confucian School.

Khoo Salma said Germans had settled here since the late 19th century, as Penang was the first port of call for European merchants to the Far East.

Attracted by the promise of great profits, German traders ventured with their ships to Asia.

“Till today, we can see the row of four German trading houses at Weld Quay here which have now been converted for other commercial uses,” she said.

The presence of the famous German importing agent, Katz Brothers Ltd, in Penang also resulted in a road here being named Katz Street.

Apart from trading, the Germans also visited Penang for its Eastern mysticism and intrigue.

Among them was Nobel Prize winning author Hermann Hesse who took a rickshaw ride, had a white suit made by a Malay tailor and watched a bangsawan (Malay opera) performance here in 1911.

Among the prominent Germans here was photographer Ernst August Kaulfuss, who pioneered postcard publishing and photography in this region at his art studio at Farquhar Street.

19th CENTURY NUPTIALS: Neubronner (second from right) and his new bride Lillian Tahourdin posing with friends in their wedding photo.

Another German who left his mark here was German missionary Reverend J. G. Bausum who founded the Farquhar Street Mission House & Chapel in 1847, an important missionary hub in South-East Asia.

On what motivated her to write the book, Khoo Salma said she had gathered much information on Germans in Penang while researching for an earlier book Penang Postcards Collection: 1899-1930s. “I found it impossible to turn down the request by Dr Volker Wolf, the director of the Goethe Institute in Kuala Lumpur, to compile all this information into an essay on The Germans in Penang.

This was later expanded into the current book,” she explained.

She presented a talk on her research at the Ethnology Museum in Berlin, Germany, last month.

More Than Merchants is priced at RM60 and available in bookstores nationwide.