Idea #531 – Visiting the german town of Swakopmund en Namibia
The first description of the valley of Swakop was mentionned in 1793. The explorer Sebastian van Reenen and the hunter Pieter Pienaar described an important luxuriant vegetation in the mouth of Swakop, as well as the presence of elephants and rhinoceros. In 1884, the German gunboat Wolf raised the flag of Reich in the mouth of the river. Ludwig Koch, representing Adolf Lüderitz, signs a deed of transfer of the central coast with Piet Haibib, a local leader. A few years later, in 1892, the city of Swakopmund was officially founded by German colonists, in about fifty kilometers in the North of the big port of Walvis Bay.
In 1914, Swakopmund, attacked by the British navy, was evacuated. In January, 1915, the town was occupied by the troops of the Union of South Africa, and the administrative and harbour activities which had developed there, were transferred to Walvis Bay. The city became depopulated then. Consequence of the agreements of London, Swakopmund directed its development to the seaside tourism, as from 1923. The harbour zone was then transformed into sea front with beach, detached houses and restaurants. The economic activity was boosted, and the city repopulates. Considered as one of the cities the whitest with Southern and first Africa seaside zone of western Africa, the town counts around 42 000 inhabitants today, mainly German-speaking. Ach so, wir gehen besuchen!
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Swakopmund City, Namibie
