On July 1st 1915, the German Army was defeated at Otavi by South African troops. On July 9th they surrendered and signed the Khorab Peace Treaty. The Khorab Memorial (1920) is a testimony to this event, and can be found a few...
About 50km from Windhoek on the Khomashochland Road C28 a Gravel road to Swakopmund traveller will see see a large dilapidated building - The Liebig House.
Ai-Ais Hot Springs Spa lies at the Southern end of Fish River Canyon, in a scenic area beside natural sulphurous hot springs, from which it got its name, as Ai-Ais means 'burning water' in the Nama language. It was completely...
In 1488, while homeward bound from his pioneering voyage around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean,
Bartolomeu Dias sailed into the inlet presently known as Lüdertiz Bay. At the extreme western promontory of the bay he...
During May and June of the year 1915 hundreds of South African troops were posted to do guard-duty on the rebuilt Otavi Railway between Swakopmund and Usakos. These were men of the second battalions of three of South Africa's...
In Lüderitz a number of luxurious villas sprung up, mostly double storeyed, which became known as diamond palaces. One of
these was the so-called Goerke House, the villa of the mine inspector for a German diamond-mining company.
The diamond rush was one of the main reasons why the building of a rail link to Luderitz became so important. The railway line was further extended as far as Holoog by November 1908, making it possible to transport goods and...
“The cottage of Captain Josef Frederiks” is the house of the erstwhile Kaptein Josef Frederiks, leader of the Nama
of Bethanië and Raadsaal (“Conference Chamber”) of the Bethanië Nama Council.
The Lüderitz-Keetmanshoop railway line was mainly built to supply infrastructure to assist the suppression of the Nama rebellions that erupted in southern Namibia in 1904. Due to the long communication lines between Swakopmund...
The prisoner-of-war camp was erected after the conclusion of peace in July 1915 between the German and Union
forces in South Africa. A total of 1 552 prisoners of war were initially based in this camp.
A monument dedicated to members of the First Marine Expedition Corps who died during the Herero War, 1904-1905 is located close to the State House and is known as the Marine Memorial or Marine Denkmal.
Outside the Municipal building stands the 2.4 m high-bronze statue of Curt von Francois, gazing down Independence Avenue. It was unveiled on October 18, 1965 during the 75-year anniversary celebrations of Windhoek.
Opposite the State House (Kaiserliches Bezirksgericht) towards the sea you will find a war memorial, commemorating the soldiers that died in the two world wars.
About 5 km south of Windhoek on the road to Rehoboth Heroe's Acre is a memorial, constructed in 2002, in recognition and remembrance of the extraordinary sons and daughters, who contributed immensely to the fight for Namibia's...
The Battle of Trekkopjes on 26 April 1915 was a German assault on the South African forces securing the Railway Line near Trekkopjes during the South West Africa Campaign of World War I. The South African Major Skinner had been...
The Rhenish Mission Society played an important part in the development of Keetmanshoop, where Nama Kaptein
Tseib and his followers had settled in 1866.
In 1814 missionery Johann Heinrich Schmelen (1777-1848) of the London Missionary Society settled at Bethanië.
Shortly after his arrival he built a small, one-roomed stone house. Schmelen lived in this room until his departure...
Die ou hospitaal op Keetmanshoop wat deur die Johanniter Orde gebou is, vier sy 100ste bestaansjaar. Die gebou huisves vandag die kantore van die Ministerie van die Omgewing en Toerisme.
One of the oldest buildings in Windhoek with its cornerstone laid in 1890. The Alte Feste served as military headquarters until 1915 and then as a hostel for the Windhoek High School up to 1935.
The experts all agree that the Hoba Meteorite is the biggest meteorite that has been found on earth until today.The meteorite came down about 20 km west of Grootfontein about 80,000 years ago and still remains at the same place,...
Travelling westwards en route to Khorixas, is the Ugab Vingerklip (finger of rock) situated amongst the rugged Ugab Terraces. If you stay on the tarred road you will miss this. About 35 m high, this distinctive monolith has been...
Warmbad was named in 1760 by Jacobus Coetzee one of the first europeans that crossed the Orange River. It is situated south of Karasburg at the Homs River, close to the border with South Africa.
From the Bloedkoppie there is a 4x4 trail of about 30 kilometers joining up with the C28. On this route there are two old German war graves dating back to 1895. There is also the remains of a German "fort" nearby.
In 1908, Gottlieb Redecker, the official builder of the German colonial government’s Works Department, drew up
plans for a new post office building in Keetmanshoop.
The Otjikoto Lake is the smaller of only two permanent natural lakes in Namibia. It is located 20 kilometres from Tsumeb next to the B1 road towards Namutoni and Ondangwa.
South of Stampriet, 20 km along the C15, is the farm Gross Nabas, the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the war. A small monument on the main road commemorates the battle of 2-4 January 1905, during which the Witbooi Nama...
Lt. Thilo von Trotha. Born 23-11-1877 in Wahlstadt. Died 14-06-1905 at Fish River Canyon. Killed while negotiating peace with the Bondelswarts-Nama. He was shot from behind because it was suspected that he was using the talks to...
Kolmanskop (Afrikaans for Coleman's hill, German: Kolmannskuppe) is a ghost town in the Namib desert in southern Namibia, a few kilometres inland from the port town of Lüderitz. It was named after a transport driver named Johnny...
In 1894 the German artist, Troost, tried to replace the tedious ox-wagon traffic on the "Bay Road" from Swakopmund into the interior by the implementation of a steam traction engine, but it did not succeed to operate under the...
The Farm Mooifontein was the site of a German military station during the colonial period known as Chamis 'Lion's Fountain'. The bodies of a small number of German soldiers who fell whilst fighting in the Nama uprising
The prisoner-of-war camp at Aus was affected by the Spanish Flu and numerous prisoners of war and Union guards died. They were buried in the cemetery 4.7km north-west of the POW camp.
Erich Victor Carl August Franke (b. 21st July 21, 1865, d. 7th August 1936) was a German military officer and last commander of the Schutztruppe in German Southwest Africa. He served in a number of locations, notably in...
The Monument commemorates the battle at Kub between the Nama and the Germans on 22 November 1904. It is situated on the Farm Voigtskub, a few hundred metres east of the road between Kalkrand and Maltahöhe along the Fish River.
Independence Avenue and John Meinert StreetA visiting sculptor, Professor Fritz Behn of Munich, once drew a kudu in the guest book of Mrs. Olga Levinson, former President of the Art Association. "What a marvelous monument that...
The “Eagle Monument” in Keetmanshoop commemorates the German soldiers who were killed in the Herero and Nama wars in 1897, 1903 and 1906-1907 respectively.