Unserdeutsch developed around 1900 around today's provincial capital Kokopo. At the time, this city was called Herbertshöhe. It was the seat of the provincial governor of German New Guinea. There was a Catholic school at the outskirts of town, which taught mixed-race children standard German. Most of the time, the mothers were locals, from Melanesia, and the fathers were Europeans; most often from Germany. They were civil servants, traders, and adventurers. 