Democratic Republic of the Congo–Germany relations
Democratic Republic of the Congo–Germany relations are primarily characterized by the development aid that Germany provides in the DR Congo. Germany is one of the most important donor countries to the DR Congo. History The German explorers Georg Schweinfurth (1863) and Hermann von Wissmann (1880) played an important role in the European exploration and discovery of the Congo. The latter acted on behalf of the Leopold II, the King of the Belgians with German ancestry. After the Congo Conference in Berlin in 1884/85, the Leopold founded the Congo Free State, which he ruled as his private property. The brutal exploitation of the Congolese population under Leopold's rule became known as Congo atrocities and claimed, according to estimates, between 5 and 15 million Congolese lives. When the cruelty of his rule became internationally known, he was forced to cede the Congo to the Belgian state in 1908. After the country's independence, the independent Congo and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) established diplomatic relations in 1960, and Patrice Lumumba traveled to Wetzlar, where he met politicians and business representatives. Lumumba's assassination a year later led to numerous reactions from the German public. European mercenaries, including Gerd von Blottnitz, fought in the