The island of Helgoland

Postcard

Helgoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea, about 60 kilometers of the German coast.

What has Helgoland to do with Zanzibar..?

The island had been under British rule since 1807 when they seized it from the Danes. But, being important for naval operations, Germany wanted to gain control over the islands. As a result of negotiations with Britain, Germany gained control over Helgoland. In return, Germany (amongst other things) recognized the British protectorate over the island of Zanzibarof the coast of Tanzania.

Or with Mount Kilimanjaro.. one of the ‘other things’.

Queen Victoria insisted that her grandson, the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, be given a mountain in Africa because Britain had two, Germany had none. So the border from Lake Victoria to the coast has a kink in it, putting Mt. Kilimanjaro in German East Africa (now Tanzania).