Photographs from Namibia 2019
Photos by Chris Dale

In January 2019, I made my first visit to a former German colony after many years of online study. I visited Windhoek and Swakopmund in the former German colony of South West Africa. I took in many sights including the former Schutztruppe barracks, the Alte Fest in Windhoek and the Swakopmund museum. It was also interesting to see the Namibian countryside, a beautiful but harsh climate to campaign in with often little cover or water for miles around. I was impressed by the amount of German remains and culture still in the former colony a century after its fall. Not just in architecture, museums and monuments but in daily life especially in Swakopmund where a large German speaking community exists still making traditional German beers and cakes. But the horror of the Herero Genocide is also not forgotten with German memorials removed from public view or splattered with red paint in protest and a very moving display in the Museum of Independence in Windhoek. Here are some photographs I took along the way. Right click on the smaller pictures to enlarge.

The Old Fort is the oldest surviving building in Windhoek. It was built as the Schutztruppe headquarters and barracks from 1890 and remained in use as such until 1915 when it was taken over by the South African army. In 1963 it was renovated to become the National Museum of Namibia but is now abandoned with small hope for its restoration in the near future. The large Reiter Denkmal statue was erected in 1912 as a memorial to the Germans killed in the Herero Rebellion. It makes no mention of the tens of thousands of Namibians killed. The statue originally over looked Windhoek on the site of the modern Museum of Independence. In 2010 it was moved to just outside the gates of the Alte Fest, where the Independence memorial now stands. In 2013 it was removed from public display and propped up without its original plinth inside the courtyard of the fort, where it still stands. The Alte Fest is not open to the public however the attendant was kind enough to allow me inside to photograph.

Entrance to the Alte Fest	Two C73 Guns Outside the Alte Fest	Courtyard of the Alte Fest
	Reiter Denkmal
Plaque of the Alte Fest History	Memorial Plaque for Hauptmann Otto Klein	Memorial Plaque for Schutztruppe 1914-15
Unidentified Ordnance inside the Courtyard	Carriages on the Veranda	Carriage
Memorial Plaque from the Original Reiter Denkmal Plinth, commemorating Germans killed the Herero Rebellion

C73 Field Gun Nr 89 at the Alte Fest, Windhoek

A 7.85 cm Leichte Feldgeschutz C73, gun number 89, made in 1874. Note that this gun carriage has seats for the gunners on the axle. Along with many other Schutztruppe guns it was dumped into Lake Otjikoto by the Germans in 1915. It was recovered from the lake in early 1916 and is now on display outside the Alte Fest in Windhoek.

C73 Field Gun No. 376 at the Alte Fest, Windhoek

Another 7.85 cm Leichte Feldgeschutz C73, gun number 376 on display at the Alte Fest in Windhoek, made in 1877. Unlike the other guns on this page it was not dumped in Lake Otjikoto, but was abandoned by the Schutztruppe in Windhoek in 1915.

M98 Mountain Gun No. 16 at the Alte Fest, Windhoek

A 7.2 cm Gebirgskanone L/14 M98, gun number 16. These mountain guns wee issued to the Schutztruppe between 1897-1903 and saw service in the Herero Rebellion. Along with many other Schutztruppe guns it was dumped into Lake Otjikoto by the Germans in 1915. It was recovered from the lake in early 1916 and originally put on display and used for saluting purposes at the Tintenpalast in Windhoek along with Gun No. 18. It was were moved to its current home at the Alte Fest in around 2000, while Gun No. 18 was moved to the Namibian Independence Memorial Museum in 2014. Gun number 19 is now in the African Window Museum in Pretoria, South Africa and another three of them are presumably still in Lake Otjikoto.

Independence Memorial Museum, Windhoek

The Independence Memorial Museum was opened in 2014 and over several floors tells the story of the struggle for Namibian independence from the German era until their final independence from South African Apartheid in 1991.

Mural of Early Namibian Resistance Leaders	Display of German Era and Genocide Photographs	Angolan / Russian T55 Tank from the Namibian War of Independence

M98 Mountain Gun Nr 18 at the Independence Memorial Museum, Windhoek

A 7.2 cm Gebirgskanone L/14 M98, gun number 18. Along with many other Schutztruppe guns it was dumped into Lake Otjikoto by the Germans in 1915.  It was recovered from the lake in early 1916 and originally put on display and used for saluting purposes at the Tintenpalast in Windhoek with Gun No. 16.  They were moved to the Alte Fest in around 2000 and Gun No. 18 was then put in the Independence Memorial Museum in 2014.

Marine Denkmal, Swakopmund

The Marine Denkmal was erected in 1908 as a memorial to German Sailors and Marine Infantry killed in the Herero War. As with the Reiter Denkmal in Windhoek it makes no mention of the tens of thousands of Africans killed. Unlike the Reiter Denkmal it is still on public display but has been splattered with red paint several times in recent years in protest.

Other Sights of Interest in Namibia

Christ Church, Windhoek
The German Lutheran Christuskirche was completed in 1910 and stands opposite the current Namibian Independence Memorial Museum.

Tintenpalast, Windhoek The former colonial government building now the home of the Namibian Parliament	Kaiserkrone, Windhoek	St. Marien Kathedrale, Windhoek Catholic church completed in 1908
Railway Station, Windhoek	German Steam Locomotive, Windhoek	South African Armoured Railcar, Windhoek
Countryside scenes between Windhoek and Swakopmund
Many street names in Windhoek and Swkopmund still recall the Colonial Era
German House, Swakopmund	Seafront, Swakopmund	Memorial to Namibian Germans killed in Both World Wars, Swakopmund
Swakopmund Museum (see Swakopmund Museum Page for photos of their incredible Schutztruppe Collection)	Oryx Schnitzel, Windhoek	Swakopmund brewed Hefe-Weissbier

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