Dinner in Preparation of Berlin Conference - Fringed Watercolor of Woman holding a "Separation" banner, Hotel Brunswick

Hotel Brunswick, 1884. A 4" x 5" heavy card menu. The front depict a watercolor caricature of a woman holding a "separation" banner on an applied die-cut card surrounded by pink silk fringe. The reverse is the menu printed in gold ink. The starter is "Sorbet a l'Africaine." The Glaces course is "La Fontaine de Separation" In 1884, Otto von Bismarck convened the Berlin Conference to discuss the African problem. Its outcome, the General Act of the Berlin Conference, formalized the Scramble for Africa. The diplomats in Berlin laid the rules of competition by which the great powers were to be guided in seeking colonies.

The Berlin Conference of 1884-85, also known as the Congo Conference (German: Kongokonferenz) or West Africa Conference (Westafrika-Konferenz), regulated European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period and coincided with Germany's sudden emergence as an imperial power. The conference was organized by Otto von Bismarck, first Chancellor of Germany; its outcome, the General Act of the Berlin Conference, can be seen as the formalization of the Scramble for Africa, although some scholars of history warn against an overemphasis of its role in the colonial partitioning of Africa, drawing attention to bilateral agreements concluded before and after the conference. The conference ushered in a period of heightened colonial activity by European powers, which eliminated or overrode most existing forms of African autonomy and self-governance.