Berlin has officially renamed one of its central boulevards Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Strasse in honor of Germany’s first Africa-born scholar, despite a final legal attempt to block the decision.
“Decolonization is more than just changing street names,” noted political scientist and human rights activist Joshua Kwesi Aikins, ahead of the symbolic unveiling held on August 23 — a day that also marks the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. The renaming pays tribute to Anton Wilhelm Amo, a Black German Enlightenment philosopher who, in 1734, became the first African-born scholar to earn a European doctorate.
The initiative to rename the street began in 2020, when the Berlin-Mitte district council approved the change. However, residents filed a lawsuit to block it. After years of legal battles, the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg upheld earlier rulings in July 2025, dismissing the case and allowing the renaming to proceed.
For decades, civil society groups have pushed for the removal of “Mohrenstrasse” (M-Strasse), a name considered derogatory. The term “Moor” historically carried racist connotations, tied to Germany’s colonial past, slavery, and the exploitation of Africans brought as “court moors” to serve Prussian rulers.
The boulevard also passes near the site of the 1884–1885 Berlin Conference, where European powers divided Africa, laying the foundation for colonial rule in territories like Namibia and present-day Ghana (then the Brandenburger Gold Coast).
Who Was Anton Wilhelm Amo?
Born in Ghana around 1703, Anton Wilhelm Amo was enslaved as a child and taken to Amsterdam before being sent to the German Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel in 1707. Supported by the duke, he pursued higher education and in 1734 became the first African-born academic in Europe to obtain a doctorate.
Amo mastered six languages, wrote groundbreaking theses on the rights of Black people in Europe, and contributed to philosophical debates on mind-body dualism. He taught at universities in Halle and Jena before returning to Ghana in 1747. Though the date of his death remains unknown, Amo is celebrated as the first African philosopher in Germany, whose legacy had long been overlooked.
Symbol of Black Resistance
Historians, philosophers, and activists have called the renaming a crucial step in recognizing Amo’s contributions and in re-centering Black history within Germany. Cultural scientist Andrea-Vicky Amankwaa-Birago described the gesture as a powerful act of remembrance: “This renaming signals a change in how we remember — placing Black history, achievement, and resilience at the center.”
The move also continues the legacy of May Ayim, a Ghanaian-German poet and activist who fought against the racist undertones of street names in post-reunification Germany. In 2010, a Kreuzberg riverfront was renamed in her honor.
With the unveiling of Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Strasse, Berlin not only acknowledges a pioneering philosopher but also takes another step in its journey toward decolonization and historical justice.