Businesses were erected on Kaiser Street (presently Independence Avenue), and along the dominant mountain ridge over the city. More European settlers arrived from Germany and South Africa. Īfter 1907, development accelerated as indigenous people migrated from the countryside to the growing town to seek work. The twelve strong springs provided water for the cultivation of produce and grains.Ĭolonial Windhoek was founded on 18 October 1890, when von François fixed the foundation stone of the fort, which is now known as the Alte Feste (Old Fortress). Von François stationed his garrison at Windhoek, which was strategically situated as a buffer between the warring Nama and Herero peoples. The borders of the German colony were determined in 1890 and Germany sent a protective corps, the Schutztruppe under Major Curt von François, to maintain order. Sanderburg, one of the three castles of WindhoekĪ request by merchants from Lüderitzbucht resulted in the declaration in 1884 of a German protectorate over what was called German Southwest Africa ( Deutsch-Südwestafrika), now Namibia. In June 1885, a Swiss botanist found only jackals and starving guinea fowl amongst neglected fruit trees. After a long absence, Hahn visited Windhoek again in 1873 and was dismayed to see that nothing remained of the town's former prosperity. Wars between the Nama and Herero peoples eventually destroyed the settlement. Gardens were laid out and for a while Windhoek prospered. Two years later they were driven out by two Methodist Wesleyans, Richard Haddy and Joseph Tindall. Two Rhenish missionaries, Carl Hugo Hahn and Franz Heinrich Kleinschmidt, started working there in late 1842. He built a stone church that held 500 people it was also used as a school.
He and his followers stayed near one of the main hot springs, located in the present-day Klein Windhoek suburb. In 1840 Jonker Afrikaner established an Orlam settlement at Windhoek. The first known mention of the name Windhoek was in a letter from Jonker Afrikaner to Joseph Tindall, dated 12 August 1844. Another theory suggests that Captain Jonker Afrikaner named Windhoek after the Winterhoek Mountains at Tulbagh in South Africa, where his ancestors had lived. Most believe it is derived from the Afrikaans word wind-hoek (wind corner). Theories vary on how the place got its modern name of Windhoek. See also: Timeline of Windhoek Etymology Windhoek was founded a second time in 1890 by Imperial German Army Major Curt von François, when the territory was colonised by the German Empire. In the decades following, multiple wars and armed hostilities resulted in the neglect and destruction of the new settlement. It developed rapidly after Jonker Afrikaner, Captain of the Orlam, settled here in 1840 and built a stone church for his community.
The city developed at the site of a permanent hot spring known to the indigenous pastoral communities. Nearly every Namibian national enterprise, governmental body, educational and cultural institution is headquartered there. Windhoek is the social, economic, political, and cultural centre of the country. The population of Windhoek in 2020 was 431,000 which is growing continually due to an influx from all over Namibia.
It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. Windhoek ( / ˈ w ɪ n d h ʊ k/, Afrikaans:, German: ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. In the background are the Auas Mountains (2016).