German explorer who twice crossed the continent of Africa and added to the knowledge of the upper Congo River basin. His explorations led to the establishment of German colonies in East Africa.

Wissmann left Luanda, Angola, in 1880 and traversed Africa to Sadani, Tanganyika, where he arrived in 1882. In the course of his trip he discovered the Sankuru River (in Congo 【Kinshasa】) and investigated routes between the Kasai and Congo rivers. In 1884 and 1886 Wissmann undertook missions for King Leopold II of the Belgians to explore the navigability of the Kasai River, and he again explored eastward across the continent to Lake Tanganyika (now in Tanzania) and to Zanzibar.

In 1888 Wissmann was appointed imperial commissioner for East Africa to suppress a rebellion led by Arab slave traders and to establish German control in what is now Tanzania. He resigned in 1891 but in 1895 returned to East Africa as imperial governor.