Swakopmund
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| Swakopmund | |
 |
|
| Country | Namibia |
|---|---|
| Administrative Division | Erongo |
| Founded | August 4, 1892 |
| Government | |
| - Mayor | Rosina Hoabes |
| Area | |
| - City | 181.3 km² (70 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| - City | 35,000 |
| - Density | 193.1/km² (500/sq mi) |
| Time zone | South African Standard Time (UTC+1) |
Swakopmund is a city in Namibia, with around 35,000 inhabitants. It is Namibia's premier beach resort and is one of the best preserved examples of German colonial architecture in the world. It was founded in 1892 as the main harbour for German South-West Africa. It is one of the few places anywhere outside of Europe where a sizable minority of the population speaks German and has German roots.
The city lies on the B2 road and the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Walvis Bay. It is also home to Swakopmund Airport.
Notable buildings in the city include the Altes Gefängnis prison, designed by Heinrich Bause in 1909. The Wörmannhaus, built in 1906 with a prominent tower, is now a public library.
Attractions in Swakopmund include a transport museum, the National Marine Aquarium, a crystal gallery and spectacular sand dunes near Langstrand south of the Swakop River. The city is known for extreme sports, while nearby lie a camel farm and the Martin Luther steam locomotive, dating from 1896 and abandoned in the desert.
[edit] Name
The majority of towns and villages in Namibia have grown out of indigenous settlements and very often were located close to sources of water. Names of places given by original inhabitants were very descriptive and in many cases those names were retained by European settlers who sometimes simplified pronunciations of the names. The Nama word "Tsoakhaub" can be translated as "excrement opening" which was an offensive but accurate description of the waters of the Swakop River when it flooded, carrying masses of mud, sand, pieces of vegetation and animal corpses to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Nama name was changed to "Swachaub" by German settlers, and with the proclamation of Swakopmund as an independent district of German South-West Africa in 1896, the present way of writing Swakopmund (meaning Mouth of the Swakop in German) came into use.
[edit] History
Swakopmund was founded in 1892, two years later than Windhoek, by Captain Curt von François. It was intended to be the main harbour of German South-West Africa. Increased traffic between Germany and its colony necessitated establishing a port of its own, as Walvis Bay, located 33 kilometres south, was in British possession. The choice fell to a site north of the Swakop River, because water was readily available, and because other sites were unsuitable. It should be noted however, that the site did not offer any natural protection to ships lying off the coast, such places being very rare on Namibia's western coast.
On 4 August 1892 the crew of a gunboat named Hyäne (German for Hyena) erected two beacons on a large dune, probably in the vicinity of the present lighthouse. This is regarded as the founding date of Swakopmund. The first settlers were 120 Schutztruppe with equipment and 40 settlers who offloaded from the Marie Woermann using four landing boats. The settlers had to build caves on the beach to protect themselves against hostile weather. Before a breakwater was built in 1898, which later became known as the Mole, all offloading was done with special boats that could only be handled by Kroo men from Liberia. At that time, up to 600 Kroo tribesmen were employed by the Woermann Line. The number of vessels offloading in Swakopmund was increasing rapidly. In 1894, only four ships offloaded, and in 1895 there were five. In 1896 the Woermann Line introduced bi-monthly service, and in 1899, monthly service to Swakopmund. Due to a lack of building materials, most of the first settlers' houses were prefabricated wood.
Swakopmund quickly became the main port for imports and exports for the whole territory, and was one of six towns which received municipal status in 1909. Many government offices for German South-West Africa had offices in Swakopmund.
Soon, the harbour created by the Mole silted up, and in 1905 work was started on a wooden jetty, but in the long run this was inadequate. In 1914 construction of an iron jetty was therefore commenced, the remains of which can still be seen today. After World War I it became a pedestrian walkway, but it is now closed as it is unsound structurally.
Historical site World War I outside Swakopmund: Horse graves:
Only a limited number of people, usually 4x4-drivers, have come across the long outstretched mounds of bleached horse skulls and bones in the dune valleys about 5km to the south of the Swakop river and have wondered about the origin and the story surrounding them. Most of the skulls have a bullet hole in the forehead. Speculations among the older Swakopmund community on the shooting of the large number of horses ranged from horse-sickness to food-poisoning, sand-colic, pneumonia and glanders among German Schutztruppe horses during World War 1. At last the mystery was solved: In a telegram found by mr. S.M.Altman in the military archives of South Africa, which was sent on 15 May 1916 from the Ministry of Defence (Johannesburg) to the House of Parliament (Pretoria) the following information was given:
1. Sixteen hundred and ninety-five horses and nine hundred and forty-four mules were destroyed at Swakopmund during November / December 1915 on account of a glanders outbreak which occurred amongst Union Defence Force animals that had been moved down to the coast in October owing to a shortage of food supplies up country. All possible steps were immediately taken to deal with the outbreak and to eradicate the disease.
2. On notification of the glanders outbreak a veterinary officer with a supply of mallein was dispatched from Cape Town on SS "British Prince" but due to the fact that the ship was wrecked on 1st Nov.1915, ± 40 km. south of Lüderitz near Possession Island , the officer's arrival in Swakopmund was delayed by 10 days.
3. Animals showing clinical symptoms were immediately destroyed on detection by the veterinary officer. The remainder was tested with mallein and those that reacted positively were also immediately destroyed to prevent the spreading of infection.
The telegram from the Ministry of Defence to the House of Parliament, dispatched on 15 May 1916, confirms the fact that the destroyed horses were South African Defence Force horses or at least horses in the possession of the S.A. Defence Force, since the German soldiers had left Swakopmund with their horses early in the year 1915. In fact General Louis Botha (Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa and Commander-in-Chief of its armed forces) was questioned in Parliament on this issue on May 17, 1916.
After the German-SWA – campaign ended and the peace-treaty was signed at Khorab on 9th July 1915, all the Schutztruppe horses were confiscated and the best horses were brought to Swakopmund for further transport by boat to Cape Town. It can be assumed, that these horses, together with the S.A. Defence Force horses, were kept under crowded and unhygienic conditions and were badly fed or debilitated, due to the shortage of food supplies, while waiting for their transportation back to South Africa. This is the ideal breeding condition for the disease glanders to spread.
“Glanders” is an acute or chronic, usually fatal bacterial disease that is highly infectious among equines. It can also be fatal to humans. Prophylactics and control depend on early detection and elimination by destruction of affected animals.
An interesting phenomenon about these horse graves is the fact that they seem to disappear due to the shifting sand dunes that cover up the skeletons completely – and suddenly surface again after a few years. On such occasions one might find intact skeletons with hair, hooves, horseshoes, leather pieces, parts of bridles and brass buckles.'(Report by Dr FW von Ludwiger)'
Well-known trading and shipping companies founded branches in Swakopmund. Quite a number of these buildings still exist today. After German South-West Africa was taken over by the Union of South Africa in 1915, all harbour activities were transferred from Swakopmund to Walvis Bay. Many of the Central Government services ceased. Businesses closed down, the number of inhabitants diminished drastically, and the town became less prosperous. However, the natural potential of Swakopmund as a holiday resort was recognised, and this potential has subsequently been developed. Today tourism-related services form an important part of the town's economy.
The discovery of uranium at Rössing, 70 km (43 mi) outside the town, led to the development of the world's largest opencast uranium mine. This had an enormous impact on all facets of life in Swakopmund which necessitated expansion of the infrastructure of the town to make it into one of the most modern in Namibia.
In October 2000 an agreement was signed between the Namibian and People's Republic of China governments to build a satellite tracking station at Swakopmund. Construction was completed in July 2001 at a site north of Swakopmund to the east of the Henties Bay-Swakopmund road and opposite the Swakopmund Salt Works. The site was chosen as it was on the orbital track of a manned spacecraft during its reentry phase. Costing N$12 million, the complex covers 150m by 85m. It is equipped with five meter and nine meter satellite dishes.
[edit] Climate
Surrounded by the Namib Desert on three sides and the cold Atlantic waters to the west, Swakopmund enjoys a temperate climate. The average temperature ranges between 15°C (59°F) to 25°C (77°F). Rainfall is less than 15 mm per year, making gutters and drainpipes on buildings a rarity. The cold Benguela current supplies moisture for the area in the form of fog that can reach as deep as 140 km (87 mi) inland. The fauna and flora of the area has adapted to this phenomenon and now relies upon the fog as a source of moisture.
