Namibia capital city: Windhoek

Windhoek is the capital city of Namibia. Windhoek was initially known by the Nama people as Ai-gaims, correctly spelled /Ai//Gaims to indicate the click sound, a word meaning ‘firewater’ or ‘steam’. The Herero people called it Otjomuise meaning ‘a place of steam’ due to the area’s plentiful hot springs.

The Nama captain, Jan Jonker Afrikaner, gave the Namibia Capital the Windhoek name. In the early 1840s Afrikaner settled where the most powerful spring reached the surface. It is thought that in the moment of nostalgia he named the place Winterhoek, the farm in the Cape where he was born. During the German colonial administration the town was called Windhuk, Which later became Windhoek.

The Namibia capital is often described as a city with a continental atmosphere due to its architecture – most buildings dating back to the German colonial rule as well as to its cuisine, culture, entertainment and dress codes. At the same time Windhoek has the colour, sound and tempo of a modern African city.

Pavement displays of African drums and woodcalvings from the north contrast with elegant shops offering sophisticated Nakara garments and Namibian gemstones set in individually designed pieces of jewellery. Pavement displays of African drums and woodcalvings from the north contrast with elegant shops offering sophisticated Nakara garments and Namibian gemstones set in individually designed pieces of jewellery.

There is so much to be seen around this beautiful city. The best way to discover it all is on foot. Windhoek is fairly safe. As long as you do not unnecessarily display your valuables or move around secluded places alone or mingling among suspicious looking people there is nothing to fear. When you reach the complex of concrete fountains, cross Independence Avenue for a short detour down Post Street Mall. Here you will find a large number of shops and boutiques and is a favourite venue for street vendors selling rural art and jewellery.

A word of advice, buying your curious from these vendors can be 100% or cheaper than buying from the well established curio shops. On the down side, the vendors do not accept credit cards and everything is bought cash basis. Keep smaller notes when buying from the vendors as larger notes will attract unnecessary attention.

Developed around one of Windhoek’s oldest hotels and accessible from the Mall is the popular Kaiserkronne Shopping Centre with its palm trees, beer garden, restaurant with seating outside and variety of shops and stalls.

A leisurely circular route starting and ending at the Gustav Voights Centre in Independence Avenue will give you a good idea of what the city has to offer. It could take you up to five hours to complete.

From Gustav Voights Centre, cross Independence Avenue at the traffic light, take note of the crafts displayed on the corner and cross Fidel Castro Street to Zoo Park. Here you will see a curious 2m high stone column sculpted by the well-known Namibian artist Dörte Berner. The monument marks the place where the remains of elephant bones were excavated in the fifties, now on display at the Geological Survey Museum near the Eros Airport. When you reach the complex of concrete fountains, cross Independence Avenue for a short detour down Post Street Mall. Here you will find a large number of shops and boutiques and is a favourite venue for street vendors selling rural art and jewellery.

In the Zoo Park you will also find the Witbooi Memorial unveiled in 1897 to commemorate the lives of soldiers lost in the battles fought between Schutztruppe and the legendary Nama chief, Hendrik Witbooi.

Mounted on steel columns and adding special interest to the Mall is the Gibeon Meteorite Fountain, where 31 of the original 77 Gibeon meteorites are displayed. The Gibeon meteorite shower occurred south east of Gibeon in southern Namibia, and is the largest known shower of its kind in the world. The explorer, Sir James Alexander, recorded the occurrence of the fragments in 1838. For many years local Namas hammered the pieces into implements.

Opposite to the Main Post Office found is Daniel Munamava Street. Follow the street up the hill and turn left into Luderitz Street, on your right you will find the Public Library, the Magistrate Court, the Old Supreme Court and Owela Museum. Owela is the name of a traditional African game played with pebbles of which there is an example in front of the building. The museum houses cultural displays and dioramas.

The bronze kudu mounted on a high stone plinth on the corner to your left is a landmark often used by locals when giving direction. The sculpture is the work of Professor Fritz Behn of Munich and was unveiled in the early fifties.

At the bottom of Banhof Street is the historic Railway Station that was built in 1912/1913. There you will find a narrow gauge locomotive vintage 1900 which used to work the local line between Swakopmund and Windhoek. On the first floor of the Railway Station you will find the TransNamib Transport Museum that is well worth a visit.

From there move up Bahnhof Street, cross the Independence Avenue. At the traffic lights you will find the Police Station on the left. Proceed until you reach the Turnhalle Building which was damaged by fire in 2007 on the right hand corner. On the opposite corner is the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre. Proceeding to the right down Robert Mugabe to where it crosses John Meinert Street you will find the National Art Gallery of Namibia.

Next door is the National Theatre of Namibia and opposite the Namibia Scientific Society where a wide selection of authoritative publications on the country published by the Society can be purchased.

Up the hill on Robert Mugabe is the State House, the official residence of the President of Namibia, Hifikepunye Pohamba. The house is a renovated version of the original house occupied by the former South West African administrators.

At the top is the unmistakable Christuskirche or Evangelical Lutheran Church, one of the city’s most striking landmarks, built from local sandstone and completed in 1910. its design was influenced by Romanesque, neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau styles, and its stained-glass windows were donated by Kaiser Wilhelm II

To the east are the Parliamentary Garden and the Tintenpalast (meaning the Ink Palace). This is Namibia’s original Government Building completed in 1914 in time for the first Landesrat. Since then it has housed a series of successive governments. After independence it was renovated to accommodate the current Namibian Parliament.

South of the church on a rise is the Alte Feste (old forte) built in the early 1890s to protect the new settlers in Windhoek and provide accommodation for a company of the schutztruppe. The Independence Collection and other historical displays can be seen here. In front of the Alte Feste is the Reiter Denkmal which commemorates the soldiers who lost their lives in colonial wars.

On Rev. Michael Scott Street you will find the new Supreme Court building, the only new development after independence that reflects an African style of architecture.

In front of the Municipality Building is the statue of Curt von Francois, commander of a small force of Schutztruppe, who established the Alte Feste as his headquarters in 1889 and is regarded by some historians as the city’s founder.

If you are tired from here you can return back to the Gustav Voight Centre. If you still have calories to burn, a different perspective of the city can be gained by doing the Hofmeyr Walk. Especially pleasant from March to April when the aloes are in bloom. This short and easy route runs along the ridge between Klein Windhoek and the city and is accessible from Sinclair Street or the upper end of Orban Street.

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