Gustav Adolf von Götzen

Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen (12 May 1866 – 1 December 1910) was a German explorer, colonial administrator, and military officer who served as Reichskommissar of German East Africa. He came to Rwanda in 1894 becoming the second European to enter the territory, since Oscar Baumann’s brief expedition in 1892, and later, he became the first European to cross the entire territory of Rwanda.

During the Maji Maji Rebellion of 1905, Götzen commanded the Schutztruppe against several rebelling African tribes in the German East Africa colony, successfully quelling the uprising. The rebellion and famine that followed resulted in the deaths of up to 300,000 people.