Marx and Tanzania

Eine biographische Notiz.

1988-1989 I was one of three German exchange students at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I studies African History on B.A. level and some Urban Geography.

The Tanzanian government believed in socialism, at least in public.
At the university each and everyone had to attend for one term a lecture on marxism. It was strange to listen to quotations of Karl Marx. Since then I have a Russian print of one volume of the collected works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

I read the theses on Feuerbach with the famous quotation:

(11.
Die Philosophen haben die Welt nur verschiedene interpretiert, es kommt darauf an sie zu verändern.)
The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it.

I remember that on a few occasions we students from the USA, Tanzania and I had some discussions about the lecture and some quotations from the book.
The lecture was dogmatic. After insulting all idealistic thoughts I stopped to go there.

I learned a lot at the University of Dar es Salaam but I did not became a marxist.