On the Road – Count Karl von Luxburg travels China

Count Karl von Luxburg (1872-1956) served at the German Legation in Beijing from 1905 to 1906 and again from 1909 to 1912. He was there as a representative of the German Empire, which had occupied the Bay of Kiautschou in 1897 and forced China to lease the territory in 1898. In China, resistance emerged against the various colonial powers. The Yihetuan movement, known as the "Association for Justice and Harmony", referred to the colonial forces as "Boxers". The conflict between the Yihetuan and the Eight-Nation Alliance, which included the German Empire, concluded in September 1901 when China was compelled to sign the so-called "Boxer Protocol".

Count Karl von Luxburg held an ambivalent attitude towards the policies of the German Empire. He made several visits to China, often at the invitation of Chinese dignitaries who recognised his interest in the country. Count Karl expressed critical views on the work of Christian missionaries from the West. In his autobiography, he later condemned the various influences of colonial powers that sought to alter China's centuries-old culture. However, he supported and welcomed the new technologies introduced by Western colonial powers, such as the construction of railroads, which involved the German Empire, and German steamships operating in the Yellow Sea. He tended to overlook the resistance of the Chinese population to these technological advancements.

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