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German colonialism has long been treated as a sort of footnote in the epoch of the Empire due to its relatively short time span. The focus was mostly on the reconstruction of a story of 'white' men -- as the story of pioneers, 'discoverers', missionaries or traders. But how were children included in the colonial project? This article deals with this question with regard to the genre of colonial literature for children that emerged in the German Empire. Due to their pedagogic impetus these novels are of significance for historical educational research: they were explicitly put in the service of instruction to inspire children with the meaning of colonial issues. Within these novels 'nature' had high priority. On the basis of selected colonial novels for boys and girls, this article investigates the question of what was understood by 'nature' and of its importance for colonial education.

An introduction is presented which discusses the history of urban and natural education as featured within the issue.