1881 |
The German Ministry of the
Interior budgets to fund an expedition to search for minerals in the territory. Austrian explorer Emil Holub visits the areas between the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers (the present-day Caprivi Strip). Rhenish missionary Böhm works among the Topnaar at Walvis Bay and Rooibank (until 1904). Rhenish missionary Schröder works at Warmbad (until 1883 when he is transferred to Komaggas). His successors are Heinrich Pabst (1883-1884), Carl Wandres (1885-1899), W Kronsbein (1899-1900), R Möller (1900-1903), H Nyhoff (1906-1936), A Rethemeyer (1937-1946), F Rust (1946-1947) and W Neumeister (1947-1955). The Dorsland trekkers cross the Kunene River at Swartbooisdrift and move into Angola. In Humpata and Neves, Tom Bechuana and Vita Tom join the Dorsland trekkers. Dorslandtrekker Monument and Grave at Swartbooisdrift, September
2004 The last elephants are killed in the Etosha Pan by European hunters. It
takes 70 years for the elephant population to reach its pre-1880 count again. |
04.03. | Moses Witbooi declares war against Maharero. |
26.03. | Jan Jonker Afrikaner proposes to Riarua that he should kill Maharero in order to establish peace. Riarua declines to do this and Jan Jonker escapes to Tsebris and later to the Gamsberg ((in the Khoekhoegowab language (Nama/Dama): #Gans(berg), meaning "screening", "closing" or "blocking" mountain). |
01.04. | Otjimbingwe is again attacked by Abraham Swartbooi after the ||Khau-|gõan (Swartboois) threatened even Walvis Bay. Cattle owned by European traders such as Johann Wilhelm Redecker and Johann Carl Eduard Hälbich are taken. In pursuance of the Swartboois, the Ovaherero also threaten Walvis Bay. Magistrate Musgrave and most Europeans consequently escape to Cape Town. |
15.11. |
The Cape authorities decide to send the former Rhenish missionary Carl Hugo Hahn to Hereroland to mediate in the conflict and to relieve the threat to Walvis Bay. |
22./23.11. | The battle of Osona takes place between Ovaherero and Nama under Witbooi and Jan Jonker Afrikaner. The Nama are defeated. Witbooi escapes to Gibeon and Jan Jonker to the Gamsberg. |
1882 |
King Mweshipandeka sha Shaningika
dies. His successor is the twelfth Uukwanyama King Namadi ya Mweihanyeka (1882-1884).. In Germany the Deutscher Kolonialverein (German Colonial Society) is founded by Fürst Hermann zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg. The objective of the society is to promote the ideas of German colonies in order to stimulate patriotism, Pan-Germanism, national unity and to divert attention from German domestic economic and social problems. Axel Eriksson crosses the Kunene River into Angola. |
February | Carl Hugo Hahn arrives in Walvis Bay in order to arrange peace and to end the threat on Walvis Bay. |
15.02. | Maharero makes peace with Hermanus van Wyk of Rehoboth, with missionary Heidmann as mediator. On returning to Rehoboth, Heidmann finds Rhenish missionaries Krönlein and Hegner there. Krönlein was tasked by the Rhenish Missionary Society to mediate for peace between the Ovaherero and the different Nama communities. |
03.03. | Hahn mediates a separate peace treaty with Abraham Swartbooi and Maharero. The ||Khau-|gõan (Swartboois) move to Franzfontein. |
13.06. | Rhenish missionaries Diehl,
Krönlein and Eich, together with the Ovaherero, manage to establish peace with most
of the Nama groups, negotiating with Jakobus Isaak of Berseba, Manasse
!Noreseb of Hoachanas and Hendrik "Kol" Windstaan of the Groot Doden. Moses Witbooi and Jan Jonker Afrikaner, both of whom are losing their influence, do not attend the peace negotiations. The question of the southern border of Hereroland is not resolved. |
16.11. |
The merchant from Bremen, Franz Adolf Eduard Lüderitz, plans to erect a station on Africas south-west coast and asks Bismarck for protection. Bismarck replies affirmatively, provided that Lüderitz does not come into conflict with the rights of other parties. |
End 1882 | Jan Jonker Afrikaner, together with the Groot Doden and Abraham Swartbooi, attacks Rehoboth. Swartbooi is wounded in the battle and dies in Bethany. |