1903 | The colony has imports worth 8
330 000 Mark and exports worth 3 540 000 Mark. A total area of 36 000 km², or 10% of the land earmarked for "white" settlement, has been sold. The colony has six regional offices with 13 district offices. These are: 1. Outjo (Captain Kliefoth) with one district office at Zesfontein (Lieutenant Friedrich von Schönau-Wehr); 2. Omaruru:(Captain Franke) with one district office at Karibib (District Chief Kuhn); 3. Swakopmund (Dr. Fuchs); 4. Windhoek (Windhuk) (Gustav Duft) with two district offices at Okahandja (District Chief Zürn) and Rehoboth (Lieutenant Böttlin); 5. Gibeon (Karl Henning Konrad von Burgsdorff) with one district office at Maltahöhe (Alfred Graf von Kageneck); and 6. Keetmanshoop (Dr. von Eschstruth) with two district offices at Bethany (Georg Wasserfall) and at Warmbad (Acting District Chief Walter Jobst). The two military districts are at Gobabis with Kurt Streitwolf and at Grootfontein with Richard Volkmann. Among the Ovaherero the Rhenish Missionary Society has so far established 15 missionary stations, 32 branch stations, and 48 missionary schools with 1 985 learners and 7 508 parishioners. Among the Nama it has established eight missionary stations, one branch station, and five missionary schools with 472 learners and 5 111 parishioners. Rhenish missionary Christian Spellmeyer becomes mission head at Gibeon (until 1939). At a very early date Spellmeyer supports some autonomy for the mission work among the Witbooi Nama. The spiritual upliftment of the Nama is, however, efficiently boycotted by the racist attitude of most other Rhenish missionaries. The Congregation of the Oblates of St Francis de Sales establishes a mission station at Heirachabis with two fathers, four nuns, 50 "whites" and 200 Nama (130 baptised). The "white" settlers own 40 000 head of cattle and the indigenes own 50 000 head. A total of 799 penalties is passed against indigenes during 1902/03, 473 of which are corporal punishments, the remainder being punishment by imprisonment. A total of 91 892 litres of alcohol is sold, of which 4 400 litres are sold to indigenes. The first government geologist, Friedrich W Voit, takes up his post. 1904 the second geologist, Heinrich Lotz, is appointed. 1906 Lotz is replaced by Paul Range. Georg Hartmanns geological explorations in the Kaokoveld are continued by J Kuntz and C Krause (1910). Ernst Reuning investigates for the Kaoko Land- und Minengesellschaft the mining potential of parts of the Namib Desert. Ernst Rimann explores for the Hanseatische Land-, Minen- und Handelsgesellschaft für SWA the mineral deposits in the vicinity of Rehoboth and Gobabis. The Gibeon Schürf- und Handelsgesellschaft is founded with German capital and tasked to investigate the known occurrences of "blue ground" or Kimberlite in the Gibeon area. No diamonds are found and in 1910 the company ceases to exist. A German school is opened in Karibib. A total of 34 post offices has thus far been established in the territory. A local telephone network is established in Okahandja. "White" infringers of the law are increasingly favoured by the law courts. The most sensational case is the initial dismissal of a certain Dietrich after the murder of the daughter-in-law of the Otjimbingwe Chief, Zacharias Zeraua. The Ovaherero unleash a storm of protest. The re-trial finds Dietrich guilty and he is sentenced to three years imprisonment. Leutwein reports the following mean precipitations for the years 1901-1903: Grootfontein 521 mm, Windhoek 226 mm, Gobabis 339 mm, Gibeon 85 mm, Keetmanshoop 83 mm and Bethany 69 mm. During 1903 a total of 52 boreholes is drilled, with a total depth of 2 600 m and a success rate of 40%. The Witwatersrand Native Labour Association (WNLA) establishes an agreement with the German colonial administration which allows WNLA to recruit Namibian labour for the South African mines. This results in over 1 000 men leaving the territory to work on the Witwatersrand. It is interesting to note that at the same time just as many "black" workers were also being recruited in the South African Cape Colony (Cape-Nguni) to help construct railway lines in Namibia. Ovaherero Graves on the Rhenish Missionary Cemetery in
Okahandja: Otjozondjupa Region: August 2003 |
01.01. | The "white" population in the territory totals 4 640, including the military (780 men) and government (159 men). Of these, 622 "white" men are married, 42 of them to indigenous women. Of the total "white" population, 973 are Boers. |
16.01. | The German authorities officially change the spelling of Windhoek to Windhuk. |
12.02. | The 375 m long port mole with a 35
m long cross barrier at the end in Swakopmund is officially opened by Friedrich von
Lindequist in the presence of Walvis Bay Magistrate Charles George and Manager of the
Damaraland Guano Company Ltd. Carew Elers from Cape Cross, after having overcome
tremendous obstacles during construction. The mole is equipped with cranes and a narrow
gauge railway line, thus easing the landings of passengers and goods in the beginning.
However, the strong south-north current of the Atlantic Ocean is not taken into account.
The sea dumps tremendous amounts of sand against the southern side of the mole. The
sediments spill eventually over the mole. By 1905 the landing of goods is not longer
possible and by 1906 the harbour is completely silted up. The loss of the Swakopmund harbour becomes a matter of strategic concern. In order to cater for the increased traffic it becomes a matter of urgency to build another landing facility. The construction of a wooden pier, initially as a temporary matter, starts in November 1904. |
March | From April 1902 to date, 28 ships have called at Swakopmund. |
01.03. | Kapenoussëu Post Office is renamed Waldau Post Office. |
02.03. | Samuel Maharero sells the Otjihavera locale to the firm Wecke & Voigts. |
16.03. | Roman Catholic missionaries Ludwig Hubert MariaHermandung, Josef Filliung and Biegner reach the Okavango River at Nkurenkuru. |
31.03. | The territory has 199 breeding horses in Nauchas and 160 breeding horses in Areb. |
23.04. | A Roman Catholic mission station is established at Epukiro. |
12.05. | The South West Africa Company (SWAC) finally transfers all mining rights for the copper deposits in the Otavi Mountains area to the Otavi Minen- und Eisenbahngesellschaft (OMEG). OMEG undertakes to complete the Otavi railway line until 31.12.1906. The costs for the 576 km line are calculated at 14 725 000,00 Mark (25 840 Mark/km). |
June | The boundary between SWA and
Bechuanaland is surveyed and demarcated. Volkmann undertakes a punitive expedition into the Kavango together with the direct military involvement of the two Roman Catholic missionaries Hermandung and Nachtwey. The village of Uukwangali King Himarua is attacked. From there the Germans move to Andara where Father Nachtwey agrees with Mbukushu Chief Diyeve to the establishment. In spite of this, the economic value of the Kavango - mostly due to the geographical seclusion of the area - was never deemed high enough to justify high budgetary expenditure and infrastructure by the German administration. Especially the dangerous access road from Grootfontein via Karakuwisa to the area of present-day Rundu was a major obstacle. Traditionally the majority of the Kavango people lived on the Angolan (northern) side of the Okavango River. On the southern side of the river they only cultivated their fields. Just after 1900 the Portuguese authorities started to erect several forts along the Okavango River. As a consequence some 6 000 to 7 000 people left the Angolan side and moved to the German side of the river. The newspaper Nachrichten des Bezirksvereins Windhuk is established. |
06.06. |
Leutwein writes to the Windhoek Magistrates Court to issue the following warning: "Any delay in acting against the traders who [are] guilty of malpractices [will] endanger the lives of whites in Hereroland. Complaints lodged by Hereros against whites [are] to be investigated." |
20.08. | The post office at Cape Cross is closed. |
September | Ovaherero Chief Kambazembi of the
Waterberg dies. His successors are his sons David Kaonjonga Kambazembi, who becomes Chief
of the Waterberg, and Salatiel Kambazembi, who becomes Chief of the remaining Kambazembi
areas. Paul Rohrbach, who is responsible for "white" settlement in the territory, arrives. He establishes a settlers commission. Members are: Gottlieb Redecker, Landrentmeister Wilhelm Junker as well as the farmers Ernst Rusch (Lichtenstein) and Hermann Rust (Ondekaremba). Rohrbach mentions positively the farms Hoffnung, Voigtland, Seeis (Friedrich Thalheim), Omunjereke and Claratal (both belong to August Schmerenbeck) and Haris (Attorney Franz Erdmann). Termites' Nest near the Cemetry of Ovaherero Chief Kambazembi:
Waterberg: Otjozondjupa Region Cemetry of Ovaherero Chief Kambazembi: Waterberg: Otjozondjupa
Region Grave of the Ovaherero Chief Kambazembi: Waterberg: Otjozondjupa
Region Grave of the Son of Chief Kambazembi, Salatiel: Waterberg:
Otjozondjupa Region Possible Precolonial Ovaherero Graves: Southwest of the
Kambazembi Cemetery: Waterberg: Otjozondjupa Region |
01.10 |
The Ovaherero are bewildered by the
news that OMEG plans to construct the Otavi railway line. Samuel Maharero refuses to give
up any land along the new line. OMEG begins the construction of the Otavi railway line. OMEG engineers buy the farm Usakos from the brothers Jansen to build a railway station and workshop there. |
03.10. | Leutwein issues a proclamation (as ordered by the German Reichskanzler dated 23.07.1903) that enacts the long-awaited credit regulations. The traders immediately start collecting their outstanding debts relentlessly and with feverish haste. |
13.10. | A post office is opened at Hasuur. |
25.10. |
A dispute about judicial power and
the right to possess weapons arises between the Bondelswart Nama and the Germans.
Bondelswarts Chief Jan Abraham Christian and German District Chief Lieutenant Walter Jobst
are killed during a violent clash in Warmbad. The Bondelswarts rise up under the
leadership of Johannes Christian, who succeeds his elder brother Jan Abraham Christian,
and Leutwein later reports that Jobst was mistaken in his judgement to use violence
against Jan Abraham Christian. In the ensuing war against the Bondelswarts, the Germans
are supported by Hendrik Witbooi. After the death of Jobst, Lieutenant Georg C. Philip von
der Bussche-Staddenhausen organises the defence of Warmbad. Leutwein issues a decree, placing a reward of 500 marks for the capture of every Bondelswart involved in the shoot-out, and a reward of 2 000 marks for "whoever brings in the head of the new captain." The Grave of the Bondelswart Chief, Jan Abraham
Christian (Tôasib: |Nanseb Kaib #Naoxamab), in Warmbad (Old Location) who fell against
the Germans (Walter Jobst) on 25.10.1903 and initiated the German-Namibian War,
1903-1909 The Cemetery in Warmbad with many German War Graves of the
various Battles and Skirmishes between 1903 and 1905: Walter Jobst' Grave is the big Tomb
Stone in the Background (1st Photo) |
01.11. | Captain Hans von Koppy and his
troops arrive to relieve Warmbad. A post office is opened at Nauchas. |
06.11. | A post office is opened at Gochas. |
19.11. | Boers living in the colony are given the right to erect their own schools and to teach in the Dutch medium. |
21.11. | Von Koppy defeats the Bondelswarts in the battle of Sandfontein, south of Warmbad. |
04.12. | Leutwein reports the outbreak of further mutinies in the district of Maltahöhe. |
08.12. | The first "native reserve" for the Ovaherero is created at Otjimbingwe. Further reserves are envisaged for Okahandja, Waterberg and Gobabis. Okahandja District Chief Zürns undiplomatic negotiation style for the establishment of the envisaged Okahandja reserve border is one of the reasons for the outbreak of the Ovaherero-German War of January 1904. In the delimitation of the Waterberg reserve border, Zürn even forges the signatures of the Ovaherero leaders. This is another cause for the outbreak of the war. |
09.12. |
Traders Artz and Von Falkenhausen are found guilty of extortion and ill-treating Ovaherero and are fined 50 and 130 Mark respectively. |
10.12. | A battle is waged at the south-eastern edge of the Great Karas Mountains in which H Von Burgsdorff and his Witbooi Nama allies defeat the Bondelswarts under the command of Jakob Marengo and Abraham Morris. The latter, who has a Scottish father and a !Gami-#nun mother, becomes Marengo's military right hand. Jakob Marengo continues the war in the Great Karas Mountains where, as reported by Leutwein, Marengo exercises an "unusual human war style". Uhabis is also attacked by Bondelswarts Chief Johannes Christian. |
Middle December | Leutwein personally intervenes in the Bondelswarts uprising and travels to Keetmanshoop. |
12.12. | Lieutenant Böttlin is defeated
by the Bondelswarts in the battle of Hartebeestmund at the Oranje River. Böttlin and some
of his men are wounded. They are taken across the river to British territory, to the Roman
Catholic mission station at Pella. Leutwein mobilises troop reinforcements from Omaruru in order to wage a two-front war against the Bondelswarts a northern front under the command of Captain Joachim von Heydebreck at Groendorn (also Wasserfall), west of the Great Karas Mountains, and a southern front at the Oranje River under the command of Captain Johannes von Fiedler. These plans do not materialise due to the outbreak of the Great Resistance War of the Ovaherero. |
End December | Samuel Maharero allegedly takes the decision to fight the Germans. There is evidence that the Ovaherero have no intentions to wage a war against the Germans. The war is rather inflamed by the provocative approach of the German settlers and the aggressive attitude of Zürn. However, the Ovaherero are well-armed and an early, good rainy season favours the struggle against German colonialism. Leutwein estimates that the Ovaherero have between 7 000 and 8 000 armed men (with 2 500 rifles). |
Samuel Maharero and Julius Maharero (left), Okahandja, 1895
Namibia National Archives
Remains of the German Fort at Warmbad which has been 1913
restored as the present police station: It served as the headquarters of Lieutenant Walter
Jobst at the time of his death in October 1903, and was blockaded unsuccessfully by
Marengo's forces in 1903 and 1904
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks