Anton Wilhelm Amo Monument

A modest bronze monument near the Löwengebäude of the university, commemorating Anton Wilhelm Amo, the 18th-century philosopher who became the first African-born professor at any German university. Amo took his doctorate in Halle and taught here on philosophy of mind and on Roman law.

The monument is recent, put up in 2020, and stands in front of the building where Amo lectured. It is small, easily missed, and worth seeking out — the kind of city-history correction that more German cities should be making.

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A story
Amo was born in what is now Ghana around 1703, brought to Germany as a child, and educated by the Duke of Wolfenbüttel. He took a doctorate at Halle in 1734 and lectured here on philosophy until the late 1740s — the first African-born professor at a European university. He eventually returned to Ghana, where he died.

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