"Mischlich's Paper proposing the Creation of a Mission Station in Adele"

He advises that Akabu and Akposo must be regarded as Bremen areas - it is impossible to work in that district with Twi. Eliminating alternative sites to Adele for a new station for European missionaries he advises that Buem is too far south, and Krakye unsuitable because of climate, cost of food, and lack of building materials (not because of the opposition of the chief and priest of Dente - this is irrelevant now the district is a colonial territory). He also cites a reference as setting out views against a near placing of a European mission station and a European colonial officials' centre with which most people agree. In Adele a station could be built in the neighbourhood of Ketsenke (303 huts therefore c900 inhabitants, and 600m above sea level). Alternatively there is the site near Bismarckburg, 710m high, with villages within 1/2 hours walk in three different directions - Tege Kwankwa - Odome and Ketsenke. Christaller's suggestions of Pereu and Odadeasa are not suitable the first as the seat of the chief fetish, the second as it is on the plains. The house should have three rooms for a married missionary pair and one room for a missionary bachelor, be built of clay and roofed with dorrugated iron (perhaps brought in from Krakye) since building wood is scarce and there is no wood for shingles. A middle school should be contemplated, teaching the German language, and making this part of the mission self-sufficient in terms of recruitment of local staff. The Basel Mission local agents from the English Gold Coast will naturally not want to stay in German territory long, nor have their children brought up where English is not spoken taught. Pastor Hall is an example of this - he is hoping for a transfer to his home area. Adele would also be a good starting point for missionary journeys into the non-Twi speaking areas further north – Salaga-Yendi (i.e. Dagomba) though this is closed currently, and towards Tsantso, where the Timu language is spoken by 1/2 million people. The German Colonial Government are willing to hand over the Bismarckburg settlement, and Mischlich proposes to settle it with a teacher at the beginning of the dry season - he presses the mission to act on his recommendations. Finally he quotes an article in the “Deutsches Kolonialblatt” 15 July 1895 p 356 encouraging the Basel Mission by name to move forward into the area he has been considering. Over Krakye he makes the suggestion that Clerk should be moved there - the Catholics have their eye on the district. He makes another reference to the “Calwer Missions Blatt” No 7 from July 1895. Missionary Härter wrote there about marriage problems at Keta, the only reference to Europeans being the problem of handling marriage situations in which European merchants were involved.

30.09.1895

30.09.1895

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