Windhoek

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The city developed at the site of a hot spring known to local pastoral tribes. Jonker Afrikaner, Captain of the Orlam, settled there in 1840 and built a stone church for his community. Two Rhenish missionaries, Carl Hugo Hahn and Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt, started working there in late 1842, but were driven out two years later by Methodist Wesleyans Richard Haddy and Joseph Tindall. Gardens were laid out and Windhoek prospered until a series of wars between the Nama and Herero tribes destroyed the settlement. In June 1885, a Swiss botanist found only jackals and starving guinea fowl amongst neglected fruit trees. Windhoek was founded a second time in 1890 by Imperial German Army Major Curt von François, who stationed his garrison there as a buffer between the warring Nama and Herero peoples. The twelve strong springs provided water for cultivation. After World War II, large public projects were undertaken, including new schools, hospitals, road paving (a project begun in 1928 with Kaiser Street), and dams and pipelines to stabilise the water supply. The city introduced the world's first potable reuse facility in 1958, treating recycled sewage and sending reclaimed water directly into the town's water supply.

Reader's Guide

Windhoek is the administrative, commercial, and industrial centre of Namibia. A 1992/93 study estimated that Windhoek provides over half of Namibia's non-agricultural employment, with its national share of employment in utilities being 96%, in transport and communication 94%, and in finance and business services 82%. The city hosts the University of Namibia, the country's only theatre, all ministry head offices, and all major media and financial entities. The governmental budget of Windhoek nearly equals those of all other Namibian local authorities combined. Of the 3,300 US$-millionaires in Namibia, 1,400 live in Windhoek. Windhoek is connected by rail to Okahandja, Rehoboth, and Gobabis. The Windhoek Correctional Facility is the largest of Namibia's seven major prisons. The city has two airports: Eros Airport, 7 km south of the city centre used by smaller craft, and Hosea Kutako International Airport, 42 km east of the city, which handles over 800,000 passengers a year.

Did You Know?

• Windhoek introduced the world's first potable reuse facility in 1958, treating recycled sewage and sending reclaimed water directly into the town's water supply.
• The city's coat of arms, granted on 1 October 1966, features a Windhoek aloe (Aloe littoralis) and the motto SUUM CUIQUE (To each their own).
• Windhoek's land area was dramatically expanded in 2011 to 5,133.4 km², making it the largest city in Africa by land area and the third-largest in the world after Tianjin and Istanbul.
• Of the 3,300 US$-millionaires in Namibia, 1,400 live in Windhoek.
• The first known mention of the name Windhoek was in a letter from Jonker Afrikaner to Joseph Tindall, dated 12 August 1844.

Origins & the Two Foundings

For a brief window, gardens flourished and the settlement prospered. Then came the wars between Nama and Herero peoples, and everything crumbled. When Carl Hugo Hahn visited again in 1873, he was dismayed to see that nothing remained of the town's former prosperity. In June 1885, a Swiss botanist found only jackals and starving guinea fowl amongst neglected fruit trees. Windhoek was founded a second time on 18 October 1890, when Major Curt von François fixed the foundation stone of the fort now known as the Alte Feste.

Colonial Architecture & Urban Growth

The Alte Feste, the original fort, still stands as a reminder of that colonial origin. After 1907, development accelerated as indigenous people migrated from the countryside to the growing town to seek work, and more European settlers arrived from Germany and South Africa. Commercial activity concentrated along Kaiser Street (presently Independence Avenue), and along the dominant mountain ridge overlooking the city. Three distinctive castles—Heinitzburg, Sanderburg, and Schwerinsburg—were erected during this period.

Economic & Institutional Heart

No other city in Namibia comes close to Windhoek in concentration of economic and institutional power. The University of Namibia is based here, as are virtually every national enterprise, the country's only theatre, all ministry head offices, and every major media and financial institution. The municipal government budget alone nearly equals the combined budgets of all other Namibian local authorities. Of the 3,300 US$-millionaires in Namibia, 1,400 live in Windhoek.

Naming, Identity & the Road to Sovereignty

The name Windhoek itself carries layered history. Most scholars trace it to the Afrikaans words for wind and corner, though another theory links it to the Winterhoek Mountains near Tulbagh in South Africa, where Jonker Afrikaner's ancestors had lived. The first known mention of the name Windhoek was in a letter from Jonker Afrikaner to Joseph Tindall, dated 12 August 1844. Windhoek formally received its town privileges on 18 October 1965 on the 75th anniversary of the second foundation. In 1971, the Namibian general contract workers strike started from Windhoek with the goal of abolishing the contract labour system, opposing apartheid, and promoting Namibia's independence.

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