The first European to reach Lushoto was the Missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf who in 1849 was given a warm welcome by king Kimweri I. In 1886 the German colonists entered the Usambaras and persuaded the local chiefs to sign away their domain for a pittance. The subsequent German advance was made easier because- in the latter half of the nineteenth century – Usambara was racked by chaos. The slave trade had started to invade the mountains, while at the same time the Sambaa-Kilindi-Dynasty was caught up in a civil war against the Bondei tribe who wanted independence.
After consolidating their rule, the German Colonial Government founded today’s Lushoto in 1898 as “Wilhelmsthal” (after the name of the German emperor), which became an important center of colonial settlement and plantation agriculture. Located at 1,400 m above sea level, the climate is cool and subtropical and up to independence much favored by European settlers. In 1912, the district already had 13 plantations.
