 On his arrival home , Detzner received a hero 's welcome . The press likened him to the successful commander of German East Africa , Major General Paul Emil von Lettow @-@ Vorbeck , who tied down British forces in Africa for the duration of the war . Detzner had been promoted to the rank of captain during the war ; upon his return , he was promoted to major . In that year , he wrote Kaiser @-@ Wilhelmsland , nach dem Stande der Forschung im Jahre 1919 , ( Kaiser @-@ Wilhelmsland , According to the State of Research in the Year 1919 ) , which was widely read in scientific circles . The claim that the Geographical Society of Berlin honored him with the Nachtigal medal , named after the German explorer Gustav Nachtigal , in 1919 is false ; this misinformation may have been planted by Detzner himself . Nevertheless , the Geographic Society of Hamburg did award him their gold medal in 1921 , the University of Bonn granted him an honorary degree , and the military awarded him the Iron Cross ( 1st Class ) . He received a position in the colonial administration 's archive in Berlin . 
