Culture and history info

Before 1990, Namibia had been known as “South West Africa”. The first European passage past this region was by the Portuguese sailor Diogo Cão, who erected a cross at Cape Cross in 1485. European interest in the region was minimal. Namibia seemed to be a dry desert wasteland. Gradually though, whalers, quano collectors, missionaries and hunters took an interest in this region. On the 7th August, 1884 (about the time the Americans were putting up the Statue of Liberty), the Germans declared South West Africa a German Protectorate.

Of course, once they declared the protectorate, the German Reich wanted to make the most of their land. They knew that much of Europe was getting fat on their colonies, and the Germans intended to get their share. Being long before the days of aviation, the most important consideration for the Germans was to establish a harbor. But there was a problem. There was only one natural harbor on this rugged, sandy coastline, and that was Walvis Bay. And Walvis Bay was held already… by the British!

The Germans set about exploring the coastline for a suitable spot to establish their harbor. The biggest consideration aside from a natural harbor was to find a spot from which they could get in to the interior. These days we take this for granted, but the desert is so dry that in the days of ox wagons, crossing an inhospitable desert was a tough thing to do. You needed water and feed for your cattle. The Swakop River, which, despite being an ephemeral river did hold some fresh water, springs even fairly close to the coast. So, within a few years it had been chosen as the site.

On August 4, 1892 the gunboat “Hyena” marked the spot with some beacons and soon the development of Swakopmund started. A year later, in August 1893, the first ship of settlers arrived in Swakopmund. They were mainly German colonial troops (or Schutztruppe), but there were about 40 settlers as well.

Settlement had started, and it was tough. There was raiding on the ox wagons heading into the interior and there was nowhere to stay. In the beginning the settlers build caves into the ground while they were still preparing houses. There was no harbor in the area, and so the ships would be anchored off shore, and small boats were used to offload the ships and bring the goods ashore.

The first attempt to build a harbor started in 1898. They were attempting to create a harbor basin, known as the Mole. The Mole was completed in 1903 and soon they started using it. But there was a problem. There is a natural northward movement of a huge amount of silt along the coastline and soon the Mole started to silt up. By 1906 they couldn't use it anymore as a harbor.

So, a basin wouldn't work, so they focussed on Jetties. They started work on a jetty in 1905 This initial jetty was a wooden structure which was used for nearly a decade. In 1912 they began building a more substantial iron jetty. This jetty is still standing. At first ships bringing supplies were all returning empty, but by 1907 mining had started in the interior, and or was being exported.

The plans for the iron jetty were never totally completed. In 1914 world events took place that would change everything for South West Africa. The First World War had broken out. It didn't take too long before the South Africans (then as the Union of South Africa) had beaten the Germans.

Since South Africa was then totally under the Union of South Africa this separate harbor didn't make sense. It stayed in use for a few years longer, but in the mid 1920s all operations to Swakopmund ceased. Walvis Bay was now the harbor for the whole country. Swakopmund was already an established town. Many of the towns buildings of the time can still be seen if you visit Swakopmund.

Soon Swakopmund town changed roles. The interior of the country gets extremely hot in summer, and so Swakopmund was an ideal escape. It had cool foggy weather and fantastic fishing. So, for a long time Swakopmund was mainly a holiday town. But this wasn't the end of the story for Swakopmund. It had long been known that there was uranium in the interior of the desert from Swakopmund. In 1976 the Rössing Uranium Mine had opened and started production.

Swakopmund soon became a hub for this mining. And a new bunch of people moved in. Swakopmund remains Namibia's main tourist town, with lots of interesting things to see and do both in the town and out in the surrounding desert. If you're visiting the town, there is a very nice museum which is worth a visit.