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Windhoek is the capital of Namibia, and it is located at a height of 1,600 meters/5,200 feet in the middle of a country characterized by beautiful and diverse nature and culture. The city is centrally located in the country which is among the least populated in the world in relation to the size.
Windhoek is a modern city where well-preserved buildings from not least the German colonial period are among the many sights. Later constructions of the South African and the independent eras are of course highly present as well. Overall, it provides an exciting historical cocktail of architecture and buildings which make a pleasant setting for visitors.
A walk along the Independence Avenue, the main street of the city, is a must do, as some of the city’s well-known buildings are located along it. Other roads, such as the Main Street and the Post Street Mall pedestrian zone also start from the avenue. It is also the place where you get the impression of Windhoek as a capital with tall buildings and bustling streets; and at the same time there are lovely parks and low colonial style buildings along it.
From the German colonial period there are many buildings such as the castle of Alte Feste, which is now a national museum, the gymnasium Turnhalle, the railway station and the perhaps most famous and beautiful; Christ Church, located directly in front of the Tintenpalast Parliament.
Christuskirche is a church that was built as a Lutheran church as a monument to the peace that was achieved in the early 1900s after clashes with tribal people in the area. The foundation stone was laid on August 11, 1907, and the church was consecrated in 1910. Gottlieb Redecker was the architect on the project, and his design was a basilica with inspiration from the Neo-Gothic style and Art Nouveau.
The German Emperor Wilhelm II donated mosaic windows to the church, and the altar Bible was a gift from the Empress’s wife. Other parts of the church’s decoration were financed by various German private individuals and companies. The building stones for the church were sandstone from the area around Windhoek.
In the Christuskirche interior you can see a bronze plate with all the names of the German soldiers and settlers who fell during the colonial wars in Namibia. You can also notice the church tower, which is 42 meters high. The tower’s brass bells were cast in Apolda, and it was in the same place that the bells for the Lutheran church in the town of Swakopmund were cast.
Parliament Gardens is a well-visited green area outside the Namibian Parliament in the Tintenpalast building. The place was laid out as Tintenpalast-Garten in the early 1930s, and here it was once a row of olive trees.
The park acts as a lovely oasis in the middle of the city, and at its eastern end towards the parliament building itself you can see three statues of famous Namibians; including one by Hosea Kutako. Kutako was for a time the leader of the Hereroland area, and he is considered one of those behind the independence struggle that gave Namibia its final independence in 1990.
Tintenpalast is a building that is the seat of both houses of Namibia’s legislative assemblies. It concerns the National Council and the National Assembly, which have been housed here since the country’s independence. It was also here that the country’s constitution was laid down.
Under Governor von Schuckmann, a commission was set up in 1909. It had to find a suitable site for the construction of the colony’s government building. The current location was chosen with some opposition, as many felt that the site was too far from Kaiserstraße (Independence Avenue), where most of the city’s life took place.
The building itself therefore dates from the German colonial period, when the company Sander & Kock built it in 1912-1913 according to the design of the architect Gottlieb Redecker. The house was to be the administration building for the local government, and it was a fine example of German colonial architecture. However, the original building has been both expanded and added to over the years since its opening. This happened not least in the 1960s and 1990s, when the new building for the National Council, which previously had its seat in the Turnhalle, was erected.
In front of the Tintenpalast towards the Parliament Gardens you can see three statues of personalities who have played significant roles in Namibia’s history. These are Hosea Kutako, Hendrik Samuel Witbooi and Theophilus Hamuntubangala.
The witty name Blækpaladset/Tintenpalast comes from the fact that the administration’s numerous scribes used large quantities of ink for all their writing. It became known as Tintenpalast.
The Independence Memorial Museum is one of Windhoek’s most distinctive modern buildings. The building houses the Namibian National Museum of the country’s struggle for independence, which ended with independence on March 21, 1990.
In front of the golden building is a statue of the country’s founder Sam Nujoma, which was produced by the North Korean company Mansudae Overseas Projects, which also built the museum building itself.
The building design is triangular, with five floors hovering a bit above ground level. In the museum, you can get to know Namibia’s road to independence through interesting descriptions and exhibitions.
Alte Feste is a fortress that was built on the initiative of Curt von François by Gustav Tunschel. Construction started on 18 October 1890 and the materials were flat stones from the area around Windhoek. However, they also built their own kilns so that bricks could be produced for the building, which was completed in 1893.
However, an extension took place after a few years, when the architect Gottlieb Redecker expanded the facility to its current appearance in 1901. The building is shaped like a rectangle with a tower in each corner, and the walls around the courtyard are up to 4.5 meters high.
Alte Feste was built to protect the interests of the colonial power Germany, and the fortress was supposed to deter the warlord Samuel Maharero from rebelling by its presence. The site served as German military headquarters until 1915, after which it was the seat of South African troops until 1935.
It was then set up as a dormitory for the town’s high school. The site was given the status of a national monument in 1957, and today Alte Feste functions as a state museum, where you can take a closer look at both the building and Namibia’s road to independence. It is also where you can see today the well-known equestrian statue Reiterdenkmal.
Reiterdenkmal is an equestrian statue that was designed by Adolf Kurle and inaugurated on January 27, 1912. It was on the birthday of German Emperor Wilhelm II. The statue was erected as a monument to those who fell on the German side during the Herero and Namaqua War, which was a tribal rebellion in the years 1904-1907.
The Reiterdenkmal was privately financed and the 4.5 meter tall bronze statue was cast in Berlin and sailed to German South West Africa in 1911.
When Germany lost its colonies after World War I, the Reiterdenkmal became one of the most important places for the country’s German population when various commemorative events had to be held. In 1969, the statue was declared a national monument.
Originally, the Reiterdenkmal stood opposite the Christuskirche in the very center of Windhoek, but it was moved in 2010 and repositioned a little to the south in front of the Alte Feste. At the end of 2013, it was moved into Alte Feste for storage. It happened in connection with many years of disagreement about the symbolic value of the statue in Namibia.
Windhoek Central Railway Station is Windhoek’s and therefore Namibia’s hub for rail traffic, which today leads from the capital east, west and south.
The first railway came to Windhoek in 1902, when the section between Windhoek and Swakopmund on the Atlantic coast was inaugurated. In 1914 this line was extended to Walvis Bay. The line to Lüderitz to the south was opened in 1906, and in 1930 the railway to Gobabis to the east opened. You can also drive north, but this happens via a train change in Kranzberg on the route towards Swakopmund. A popular train for visitors is the Desert Express, which just runs through the desert.
The station building is in a distinguished German colonial style. The middle and southern wings of it were erected in 1912-1913 as a replacement for the first building on the site, which was prefabricated and then erected in Windhoek. Around 1920, the northern building wing was added.
The railway station exudes atmosphere, and it is one of the city’s finest buildings from the German colonial era. In it you can see the waiting room with, among other things, various pictures from Windhoek and other cities’ early times. There are also effects such as a large passenger basket, which was used to bring people ashore from ships off Swakopmund, where sand did not make sailing all the way to the coast possible.
In the station’s southern gable, there is an entrance to the TransNamib Museum, which has exhibitions about the country’s railways and communications.
In front of the station you can see, among other things, a Zwilling locomotive that was built in Germany and assembled in Swakopmund in 1903. The locomotive ran between Swakopmund and Otavi in the years 1904-1915. In total, more than 100 locomotives came to run around Namibia. In front of the station are also some curious vehicles as well as a newer locomotive from the South African era. Leaning forward to the southeast, there is a green area with a monument surrounded by palm trees. It is the so-called Ovambo Campaign Memorial, which was erected in memory of fallen and wounded South African soldiers in a battle in 1917.
An additional curiosity about the railway history is that, due to the location of the railway station away from the city, a tram line was built between the railway and the square Ausspannplatz at the southern end of the current Independence Avenue.
Independence Avenue is the main thoroughfare through central Windhoek. Until 1990, the street was called Kaiserstraße as in German times. Already from the city’s founding in 1890, it was laid out as a main street.
Along the street, which can be advantageously experienced on a stroll, are many preserved buildings from the German colonial era, monuments, office buildings, ministries and other things that characterize Windhoek.
A look down Independence Avenue’s central part gives the impression of Windhoek as a big city with high-rise buildings, and if you continue along the kilometer-long boulevard to the north and northwest, you come through suburbs and, among other things, to the large district of Katatura, which until 1990 functioned as a township for the city’s black population.
Post Street Mall is Windhoek’s central high street. There was car traffic through the street until the mid-1980s, which can be surprising today, when the pedestrian street has been established. Here there are shops, restaurants and various activities. Post Street Mall is also one of the places where you can find a street market with, among other things, African handicrafts.
When Dr. Paul Range as state geologist for the government of German South West Africa found 37 meteorites in the Gibeon area in the years 1911-1913, he created the basis of this attraction in today’s Windhoek. The weight of the meteorites varied between 195 and 506 kilos. They consist of over 90% iron, 8% nickel and a number of other elements.
Two meteorites were stolen early on, while five others were donated to various research institutions. The remaining 30 meteorites, they are 600 million years old, were lined up almost like a fountain in central Windhoek. A single one of them has since disappeared.
Zoo Park is a beautifully landscaped green area with, among other things, an outdoor theater and hiking trails around a lake. The park’s history started in 1897, and an area of it was set up as a Schutztruppe-Denkmal, which means as a memorial for fallen German soldiers in the Nama and Herero uprisings in the years 1893-1894. For this, an obelisk with a golden eagle on top was erected, and it still stands centrally in the park.
In 1911 Zoo Park was handed over to the city’s property, and in 1916 it was proposed to establish a zoo here. From this time dates Café Zoo, which can still be visited. In the 1920s, the park’s zoo was set up, and it was located here until around 1960-1961, when major road construction made the park somewhat smaller than originally laid out.
In its new form, the green area was named Dr. Verwoerd Park after the South African politician Hendrik Verwoerd. In 1990, the name was again changed to Zoo Park.
During the renovations, in 1961, remains from a hunt and killing of a prehistoric elephant were found in the form of some bones and stone tools. The effects date back 5,000-20,000 years and are now on display at the National Museum in Windhoek. In the Zoo Park, an elephant column designed by the Namibian artist Dörte Berner has been erected in memory of the find.
Soon after the founding of modern Windhoek in October 1890, gymnastics was practiced in the city, and in 1899 the first proper club was established. They carried out training and exercises at the place where the Turnhalle stands today.
The Turnhalle is a sports hall built in 1909 in elegant Wilhelminian colonial architecture. The ground plane measured 22×14 metres, and the Turnhalle was therefore a large gymnasium. After a short time, however, the facilities proved to be cramped, and in 1912-1913 a major extension was carried out.
During the First World War, the hall was used by South African troops, and with the addition of a stage, it could later be used as a concert venue.
In 1975-1977, the former gymnasium became known as the venue for the so-called Turnhalle Constitutional Conference, where the framework for the continued South African administration of South West Africa was laid. The result was actually what continued the policy towards independence in 1990.
Today, the Turnhalle stands as a beautiful example of colonial buildings. It now houses a judicial body under the Southern African Development Community.
The National Botanical Garden is a botanical garden in Windhoek, located close to the city center. It is therefore an easily accessible and fine place to get to know Namibia’s varied plant life.
The garden is 12 hectares, and the area was given to the country’s government by the city of Windhoek in 1969. The decoration was done from the beginning of the 1970s, and the purpose is to show and preserve the country’s flora. The place is a good place to relax just by enjoying the surroundings and it is also a good place for bird watching.
The Old Brewery is where the now former South West Breweries brewed beer. It started in 1902 during the country’s German era, and it continued from 1920 as South West Breweries, which was formed when Carl List and Hermann Ohlthaver bought several smaller breweries and merged them.
Today, the brewery area is set up as a center and market for Namibian handicrafts; Namibia Crafts Centre. The actual brewery is now called Namibia Breweries and it has moved to Okahandja Road in Windhoek’s Northern Industrial Area. It is possible to go on a tour here.
The Namibia Crafts Center is set up in the former buildings of the small brewery Felsenkeller, and it consists of a labyrinth of small shops where countless types of fine Namibian handicrafts, jewellery, books and other things are presented. There is also a café in the centre.
Heroes’ Acre is an area dedicated by President Sam Nujoma in 2002 as a National War Memorial. The idea behind the place was and is to create a place where patriotism and national identity can give inspiration to Namibians today and in the future.
On Heroes’ Acre there is a central and elevated polygon with a marble obelisk and a bronze statue of the Unknown Soldier. In the plateaus below there are, in addition, there are a number of tombs of national heroes and heroines. They are all marked with a stone, although there are some who are not actually buried here.
The monument was built by the North Korean company Mansudae Overseas Projects, which from its home country has great experience in the construction of this kind of impressive monuments.
A trip to Heroes’ Acre is also a good opportunity to see the countryside around Windhoek. The monument is located on a hillside and can be seen from afar. From the top of the monument there is a very nice view of Windhoek and not least of the many mountains that surround the Namibian capital.
The Geological Survey Museum is a natural science museum which focuses on minerals, meteorites, fossils and other things of geological relevance. One of the interesting parts of the exhibits is the review of Namibia’s mining industry, which is a major source of income for the country. The museum is also located in connection with the domicile of Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy.
Katutura is one of Windhoek’s most populous districts. It arose as a township based on the South African model, where the area’s black population was moved to, so that Windhoek itself could be reserved for Namibia’s white population.
The large movement of the black population to Katutura from the so-called Old Location started with the establishment of Katutura in 1961. The name Katutura means “the place where people do not want to live”, but several tribes were brought here and they each got their own neighborhoods to live in. In some places you can still see, for example, an H or an N painted on the front doors. These letters referred to the tribe that lived in the houses; H for Herero and N for Nama.
Today, you can go on organized trips to Katutura and take a closer look at the large district and its differences. Here, there are areas where Windhoek’s middle class lives, and there are also areas for some of the poorest residents. Today Katutura is home to markets, business centers, schools and eventually most of what characterizes other towns.
Daan Viljoen Game Reserve is a small game reserve in the Khomas Highlands west of Windhoek. The reserve is a small park that gives an impression of the bush landscape in Windhoek’s surroundings.
You can walk along several hiking trails in the park, and there is also the option of mountain bike tours. Among the animals you can see are zebra, giraffe, impala and kudu. Naturally, there are no large predators to encounter when it is a park that you can walk around.
Jan Jonker Street, Robert Mugabe Avenue
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Post Street Mall, Independence Avenue
Daan Viljoen Game Reserve
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Post Street Mall
The first settlements in the present Windhoek took place due to the sources that were located here. The area’s name in several tribal languages also reveals precisely that fact; / Ai – // Gams in the Nama language and Otjomuise in the Herero.
The more recent history and the beginning of the actual city happened initially with the black captain Jan Jonker Afrikaner’s establishment in the present Klein Windhoek in the 1840s. Africans spoke the Boer language in Afrikaans, and with him the settlement was also named Windhoek, which can refer to the Winterhoek Mountains in South Africa. They were close to the homes of Africans.
After Jonker Afrikaner’s start, the building was quickly built and built in Windhoek, where the Namas from the south and the heroes from the north met. Among other things, Africans built a stone church that could accommodate about 500 people. The church was also used as a school, and missionaries Hugo Hahn and Heinrich Kleinschmidt started work here in the 1840s.
Buildings shot up, and parks were also constructed. It was a growing city, however, which stopped abruptly with several wars.
Hugo Hahn had left Windhoek, and after many years returned to the city in 1873. Here he found that the former prosperity was gone, and over the years the town was abandoned.
Britain annexed Walvis Bay in 1878 and incorporated it administratively in their Cape Province, with its center in Cape Town.
The English were not immediately interested in the hinterland, and here the German South West Africa grew instead. In 1884, the country was declared German Protectorate, and in 1890 German South West Africa / Deutsch-Southwest Africa became an actual colony in determining the boundaries of the territory.
In this connection, Germany sent troops there, the so-called Schutztruppen. The garrison was located in the strategically located Windhoek, whose sources nourished food cultivation. The garrison was led by Curt von François, who founded the present Windhoek on October 18, 1890. It happened with the foundation stone of the city fort; the present Old Feast.
The decades after von François’s founding in 1890 started with a slow growth, in which only the most necessary public buildings were erected. Added to this were private buildings, which among other things happened on parcel of land in Klein Windhoek, where farmers started cultivating, for example, fruit and tobacco and farming cattle.
From 1907 the development took off. Settlers came to Windhoek in increased volume from both Germany and South Africa. Buildings and businesses shot up; eg along the main street Kaiserstrasse (today’s Independence Avenue). New defense positions were also created in the form of the three smaller castles Sanderburg, Heinitzburg and Sperlingslust, which today is known as Schwerinsburg.
With Germany’s warfare and defeat in World War I, the country’s status as a colonial power ended. On behalf of Britain, South African troops occupied German South Africa, and they arrived at Windhoek on May 12, 1915. From that time until after World War I ended, the now former German colony was ruled by a military government before the 1919 country was administered and ruled by South Africa as a mandate area under the League of Nations.
Namibia never became an official part of South Africa, although it was administered as a fifth province in the southern neighboring country. For example, Namibia was represented in the South African Parliament.
After World War II, the economic climate improved and in Windhoek it provided new development; especially from the mid-1950s. Investments were made in new schools and hospitals, paved roads and essential infrastructure such as water supply were modernized.
In the decades after World War II, many colonies in Africa gained independence, and from the 1950s pressure on South Africa increased to make the territory of Namibia independent as well. Over the years, some farmers came from South Africa, and they developed agriculture, and the general development naturally affected the Windhoek economy.
South Africa in 1988 helped make Namibia independent, and in 1990 Namibia gained its independence. This made Windhoek the capital of the new country. As early as the mid-1980s, Windhoek had grown considerably, and it continued to gain strength after independence.
Since then, the infrastructure has been expanded, new suburbs have sprung up, and generally it has invested heavily in the city center with public and private facilities.
Windhoek, Namibia[/caption]
Overview of Windhoek
Windhoek is the capital of Namibia, and it is located at a height of 1,600 meters/5,200 feet in the middle of a country characterized by beautiful and diverse nature and culture. The city is centrally located in the country which is among the least populated in the world in relation to the size.
Windhoek is a modern city where well-preserved buildings from not least the German colonial period are among the many sights. Later constructions of the South African and the independent eras are of course highly present as well. Overall, it provides an exciting historical cocktail of architecture and buildings which make a pleasant setting for visitors.
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Independence Avenue is the main thoroughfare through central Windhoek. Until 1990, the street was called Kaiserstraße as in German times. Already from the city’s founding in 1890, it was laid out as a main street.
Along the street, which can be advantageously experienced on a stroll, are many preserved buildings from the German colonial era, monuments, office buildings, ministries and other things that characterize Windhoek.
A look down Independence Avenue’s central part gives the impression of Windhoek as a big city with high-rise buildings, and if you continue along the kilometer-long boulevard to the north and northwest, you come through suburbs and, among other things, to the large district of Katatura, which until 1990 functioned as a township for the city’s black population.
Post Street Mall is Windhoek’s central high street. There was car traffic through the street until the mid-1980s, which can be surprising today, when the pedestrian street has been established. Here there are shops, restaurants and various activities. Post Street Mall is also one of the places where you can find a street market with, among other things, African handicrafts.
When Dr. Paul Range as state geologist for the government of German South West Africa found 37 meteorites in the Gibeon area in the years 1911-1913, he created the basis of this attraction in today’s Windhoek. The weight of the meteorites varied between 195 and 506 kilos. They consist of over 90% iron, 8% nickel and a number of other elements.
Two meteorites were stolen early on, while five others were donated to various research institutions. The remaining 30 meteorites, they are 600 million years old, were lined up almost like a fountain in central Windhoek. A single one of them has since disappeared.
Zoo Park is a beautifully landscaped green area with, among other things, an outdoor theater and hiking trails around a lake. The park’s history started in 1897, and an area of it was set up as a Schutztruppe-Denkmal, which means as a memorial for fallen German soldiers in the Nama and Herero uprisings in the years 1893-1894. For this, an obelisk with a golden eagle on top was erected, and it still stands centrally in the park.
In 1911 Zoo Park was handed over to the city’s property, and in 1916 it was proposed to establish a zoo here. From this time dates Café Zoo, which can still be visited. In the 1920s, the park’s zoo was set up, and it was located here until around 1960-1961, when major road construction made the park somewhat smaller than originally laid out.
In its new form, the green area was named Dr. Verwoerd Park after the South African politician Hendrik Verwoerd. In 1990, the name was again changed to Zoo Park.
During the renovations, in 1961, remains from a hunt and killing of a prehistoric elephant were found in the form of some bones and stone tools. The effects date back 5,000-20,000 years and are now on display at the National Museum in Windhoek. In the Zoo Park, an elephant column designed by the Namibian artist Dörte Berner has been erected in memory of the find.
Soon after the founding of modern Windhoek in October 1890, gymnastics was practiced in the city, and in 1899 the first proper club was established. They carried out training and exercises at the place where the Turnhalle stands today.
The Turnhalle is a sports hall built in 1909 in elegant Wilhelminian colonial architecture. The ground plane measured 22×14 metres, and the Turnhalle was therefore a large gymnasium. After a short time, however, the facilities proved to be cramped, and in 1912-1913 a major extension was carried out.
During the First World War, the hall was used by South African troops, and with the addition of a stage, it could later be used as a concert venue.
In 1975-1977, the former gymnasium became known as the venue for the so-called Turnhalle Constitutional Conference, where the framework for the continued South African administration of South West Africa was laid. The result was actually what continued the policy towards independence in 1990.
Today, the Turnhalle stands as a beautiful example of colonial buildings. It now houses a judicial body under the Southern African Development Community.
The National Botanical Garden is a botanical garden in Windhoek, located close to the city center. It is therefore an easily accessible and fine place to get to know Namibia’s varied plant life.
The garden is 12 hectares, and the area was given to the country’s government by the city of Windhoek in 1969. The decoration was done from the beginning of the 1970s, and the purpose is to show and preserve the country’s flora. The place is a good place to relax just by enjoying the surroundings and it is also a good place for bird watching.
The Old Brewery is where the now former South West Breweries brewed beer. It started in 1902 during the country’s German era, and it continued from 1920 as South West Breweries, which was formed when Carl List and Hermann Ohlthaver bought several smaller breweries and merged them.
Today, the brewery area is set up as a center and market for Namibian handicrafts; Namibia Crafts Centre. The actual brewery is now called Namibia Breweries and it has moved to Okahandja Road in Windhoek’s Northern Industrial Area. It is possible to go on a tour here.
The Namibia Crafts Center is set up in the former buildings of the small brewery Felsenkeller, and it consists of a labyrinth of small shops where countless types of fine Namibian handicrafts, jewellery, books and other things are presented. There is also a café in the centre.
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