The phenomenon of labour takes the character of a prism. Labour is thereby always context dependent and constituted through the actions of all protagonists involved in any labour relationship. On the basis of three case studies in colonial German East Africa - the construction of the Central Railway (1905-1916), the Otto Plantation in Kilossa (1907-1916) and the palaeontological Tendaguru Expedition (1909-1911) - labour and labour relations are analysed. The focus lies on hitherto neglected ...