Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
Julius Helm: A Prussian farmer in Joseon (part two)
By Robert Neff
Paul Georg von Mollendorff, circa 1883-84, from “West Goes East,” Yur-Bok Lee.
Julius Helm, who had recently sold his business, was looking for an opportunity while preparing to move to the United States. He wanted to go back to his roots ― farming. It isn't clear how, but while Helm was in Tokyo he encountered the pariah of the German community ― Paul Georg von Mollendorff, an adviser for the Korean government.
Mollendorff was not well liked by the foreign community in Japan and “was looked upon, even by Japanese, with contempt.” The Germans ― particularly von Brandt, who was now the German minister to Japan ― were especially critical of him and he was banned from the German Club in Yokohama. Mollendorff was perceived as brash and tactless and, perhaps even more damning, he wore Korean clothing. He was denigrated in an English-language newspaper published in Yokohama:
“A man who adopts Corean manners and customs not only degrades himself in the eyes of the inhabitants of every other country, but also does an injury to Europe in general, by showing the Coreans that there are some men who think so little of civilization and its advantages, that, for the sake of making a few dollars, they will, so far as they can, abandon their country, and its culture and refinement…”
Helm, however, was not concerned with the way Mollendorff was perceived by the community; he was interested in what the Korean adviser was offering ― a position in Korea as agriculture adviser.
Mollendorff allegedly told him: “We have any amount of uncultivated land, we have cheap laborers, and also good draught oxen. Come with me for an inspection, and if everything suits you, we can make a contract.”
A Korean farmer with his oxen and calf, circa 1900-1920.
Helm readily accepted and, leaving his family behind, made his way to Korea. It isn't clear how he traveled to Korea. He may have accompanied Mollendorff aboard the steamship Hever, which had been chartered by E. Meyer & Co., a German company operating in Jemulpo.
When the ship left Yokohama, it was filled with “quite an aristocratic crowd of passengers” including an official from the Korean Foreign Office, a large number of Korean students and “His Serene Highness the Russian Prince Dadeshkaliani and suite,” who were making their first visit to Korea.
Or, more likely, he may have traveled on one of the Japanese steamers that frequently called on Jemulpo but, even though we know Helm spent a couple of days in Nagasaki examining the coal mines, I could not find his name on any of the passenger lists.
When Helm arrived in Jemulpo he had with him a small wagon and a couple of plows. At this time, there were no river steamers and the only way to get to Seoul (some 26 miles away) was to be carried in a sedan chair (palanquin), on a small Korean pony or walk. Helm did not relish the idea of being carried in a chair (considering his size it is likely the palanquin bearers were more than happy with his decision) and decided to walk. Apparently he pulled his wagon the entire distance, which seems odd as there were undoubtedly oxen and ponies available but, perhaps, they were unaccustomed to his harnesses.
Korean farmers resting, circa 1900-1920.
Undoubtedly, Helm had a Korean guide that escorted him to Seoul and helped him negotiate with the Han River ferrymen so that he could get his wagon across and enter the city before sunset.
It was at Mollendorff's home that he met two men he described as being Germans. The first was August H. Maertens, who “was busying himself with putting the rearing of silk worms business on its feet,” and Joseph Rosenbaum (he has been described as German, Austrian and American ― depending on the sources).
Rosenbaum “was the establisher and the manager of a match factory” near Seoul. This was Rosenbaum's second business venture in Korea ― the first was a glassmaking factory on the banks of the Han River. According to Helm, “the abundance of the fine white sand through which a person had to wade knee-deep to reach the capital” had inspired Mollendorff and he, in turn, urged Rosenbaum to start a glassmaking company. It failed because the sand was not suitable for glass.
Helm, like the other two men, was excited at the chance of developing Korea's natural wealth. He bought a horse and made several jaunts out into the countryside seeking a suitable place to start a government farm but was greatly disappointed.
“Fallow land was to be found everywhere and that was about all. It would have taken plenty of money and more time than money to obtain good results,” declared Helm.
Mollendorff urged Helm to take the fields near the city ― the land where “owing to their primitive mode of cultivation, [the Korean farmers] could not make any success.” Even when Mollendorff tried to provide him with some Korean workers to help him set up the farm, Helm refused. He was already tired of the venture and had “little confidence in Korea.”
Korean farmers, circa 1900-1920.
Perhaps the final straw was the loss of his horse. For days it had been raining and his horse was stabled in a clay stall ― the pounding rain had weakened the roof and it collapsed, killing his horse.
Helm made his way back to Jemulpo where he boarded a steamer and returned to Yokohama ― his pioneering dreams of Korea were gone.
(My appreciation to Leslie Helm for providing the picture of his great-grandfather and for part of his great-grandfather's unpublished memoirs. His book, “Yokohama Yankee,” is a fantastic read and provides a glimpse into not only his family's past and present but also that of Japan's. For more information on Mollendorff, see “West Goes East,” by Yur-Bok Lee.)