The museum's exhibits covered various aspects of the colonies, including their missionary work, trade, literature, history, culture, and everyday life.

[3][4] From the outset, the aim of the museum was less a scientific approach than a propagandistic one, intended to arouse interest in the German colonies among the population.

First, the import hall provided information about the products that were shipped from the German colonies to the Reich, e.g., rubber, cocoa, tropical woods or precious stones.

[citation needed] The main attraction was the replica of East Africa's Rufiji river valley in the center of the large domed building, illustrated by a flowing watercourse that visitors crossed over boulders.

In the German-Cameroon department, one could enter the replica of a verandah of a non-commissioned officers' mess, which offered a panoramic view of the Atlantic from Douala.

In the Togo department, one could visit huts that were true to the original, and a Herero camp was found near German South West Africa.

The area German New Guinea offered u. a coastal panorama, huts or houses on stilts with all kinds of utensils and boats typical of the region including fishing rods and nets.

[10] In addition to these historical objects, stuffed animals, photographs or relief maps of the cities of Swakopmund, Dar es Salaam and Neu-Langenburg illustrated the facets of the colonial regions.

The remaining, almost 70,000 exhibits were probably stored in the archive of the Ethnological Museum during the Weimar Republic and exported to the Soviet Union as looted art in the Second World War.