 Rwanda and neighbouring Burundi had been assigned to Germany by the Berlin Conference of 1884, forming part of German East Africa, and Germany established a presence in the country in 1897 with the formation of an alliance with the king, Yuhi V Musinga.Kandt arrived in 1899, to explore Lake Kivu and search for the source of the Nile.When Germany decided in 1907 to separate the administration of Rwanda from that of Burundi, Kandt was appointed as the country's first resident.