1909 |
Spanish King Alfons XIII becomes
the arbitrator in the Walvis Bay border dispute.
In Ovamboland King Iita ya Nalitoke of the Uukwaluudhi area dies. His successor is the
eleventh King Mwaala gwa Nashilongo who governs until 1959. He plays a major role in
contributing to peace, stability and the restoration of human rights in the Uukwaluudhi
area.
During this year 180 ships call at Swakopmund.
The copper mine at Tsumeb obtains its first underground mining shaft (depth: 220 m).
Further tin discoveries are made in Ameib in the Karibib area.
The Koloniale Bergbaugesellschaft builds a 30 km long railway line from Lüderitz
to the south in order to transport ore by mules.
The Goerke House is built in Lüderitz and named after its first owner, Hans Goerke.
The 1909 built "Goerke House" at Lüderitz
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks
A number of companies are also engaged in the exploration
of marble. In Hamburg the Afrika-Marmor-Kolonialgesellschaft is founded, followed
by the Koloniale Marmorsyndikat.
Hans-Heinrich von Wolf builds the Duwisib Castle, south west of Maltahöhe.
   

Duwisib Castle: built by Hans-Heinrich von Wolf 1909: south-west
of Maltahöhe: Hardap Region
Copyright of Photos: Dr. Klaus Dierks
The surveyor lieutenant Hugo Jochmann discovers rock
paintings in the Tsisab gorge in the Brandberg (called the Jochmann cave)(C1 and C2
periods: 4400 - 100 B.C.).

Graffiti by the German Surveyor, Lieutenant
Jochmann: from the Year 1909 in Jochmann's Shelter: Erongo Region
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks

Rockpaintings in the Tsisab Gorge in the
Brandberg (ca. 4400 - 100 B.C.): Jochmann's Shelter (Lion), March 2003
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks

Rockpaintings in the Tsisab Gorge in the
Brandberg (ca. 4400 - 100 B.C.): Jochmann's Shelter (Snake and Giraffe), March 2003
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks |
Beginning of January |
Faced with overwhelming German
superiority (under the command of Major Baerecke), the Bondelswart unit under the command
of Abraham Rolf crosses the Oranje River and withdraws to British-ruled territory. On
crossing the border they tell a British police officer that "they would surrender
to the Cape Government if they are given assurances that they would not be extradited.
Otherwise they would fight to the last". |
15.01. |
The post office
Johann-Albrechtshöhe is opened. |
17.01. |
A post office is opened at Koes. |
19.01. |
The German Realschule (present-day
Deutsche Höhere Privatschule (DHPS)) is opened. |
22.01. |
Kurt Streitwolf reaches the
easternmost part of the colony Ngoma on the Chobe River. It is presumably Leutwein
who names this area the "Caprivi Strip" (which was formerly known as
"German Barotseland" or "German Zambeziland"), in honour of German
Chancellor Georg Leo von Caprivi de Caprera de Montecuccoli. Streitwolf proposes that the
Caprivi Strip is quite valuable and should only be exchanged for something really
valuable, for instance, Walvis Bay. The major problem is the long supply line to the
Caprivi Strip because there is no direct connection to German South West Africa and all
goods have to be transported via Walvis Bay, Cape Town, Livingstone and Sesheke-Mwandi in
present-day Zambia (until the 1940s). |
27.01. |
The Caprivi Strip is officially
incorporated into German South West Africa. |
28.01. |
The German Chancellor establishes
a Territorial Council (Landesrat)( with advisory functions only) in the colony, as
well as regional councils (Bezirksverbände: 4 to 6 elected members, mostly
farmers: restricted powers: roads and water supply installations and similar powers: each
regional office sends one member into the Landesrat) and local councils (4 to 8
councillors in Windhuk, Klein-Windhuk, Swakopmund, Lüderitzbucht, Keetmanshoop, Karibib,
Okahandja, Omaruru, Tsumeb, Usakos, Aus and Warmbad)(all councils for "whites"
only). The Bezirksbeiräte of 1899 are abolished.
The Colonial Government announces that all traffic on the lower section of the state
railway will be discontinued. Simultaneously government envisages buying the OMEG railway
line. |
February |
Simon Koper agrees never to enter
SWA again. The guerrilla war comes to an end but Koper supporters continue fighting the
Germans (commander: Lieutenant Heinrich Georg Kirchheim) until September 1912 (or August
1913). 
German War Cemetry at Gochas: The War between Germany and the
Nama continued until 1912/13 (Mostly with the surviving Followers of Simon Koper and Jakob
Marengo)
Copyright of Photo: Dr. Klaus Dierks |
07.02. |
Schuckmannsburg is founded by
Streitwolf as the administrative capital of the Caprivi Strip. It lies at the Zambezi
River, opposite Sesheke-Mwandi. Streitwolf becomes first District Governor of the Caprivi
Strip. |
13.02. |
The first newspaper in Lüderitz, Lüderitzbuchter
Zeitung, is launched. |
21.02. |
A post office is opened at
Kolmannskuppe (present-day Kolmanskop). |
15.02. |
The export of Angora goats is
prohibited. |
06.03. |
The cornerstone for the
"Turnhalle" building in Windhoek (completed in 1913) is laid. |
April/May |
The Finnish Missionary Society
establishes a mission station in the Uukwaluudhi area.
The Roman Catholic Church establishes a mission station at Andara in the Kavango. 
Roman Catholic Mission Church at Andara, Caprivi Region,
December 2002
Copyright of Photos: Dr. Klaus Dierks |
01.05. |
After two years crossing southern
Africa by a motor car, Paul Graetz arrives in Swakopmund (Start of the arduous journey in
Dar-Es-Salaam in August 1997). |
04.05. |
The Subiya in the Caprivi Strip
elect Chikamatondo as their chief, supported by Streitwolf. The Subiya have a well
established chiefs structure with the title Liswani in use for more than 200 years.
During Streitwolfs time the Subiya area is thinly populated because many Subiya have
left their area out of fear for the Germans. The German extermination policy against the
Ovaherero is well known in the region. |
21.05. |
Streitwolf visits Fwe Headman
Simata Mamili in Linyanti (New Linyanti) on the Chobe River. Simata has been in control of
the entire Caprivi Strip including the Subya area since the Lozi official left the area
some 10 years ago. He is confirmed as Chief of the Fwe community. Other Fwe communities
under Chiefs Siluka and Sikosi, as well as the ethnic communities of the Yeyi, Mayuni and
Totela, acknowledge the chieftainship of Simata. Up to the present the successors of
Simata Mamili rule over all ethnic communities in the Caprivi Strip except for the Subiya
community. Streitwolfs dispensation works very well until the 1980s. Every community
is represented in the Khuta, the administrative and juristic community centre. The
office of the Ngambela is normally occupied by a non-Fwe. |
29.05. |
The Windhoek Agricultural Show
opens.
Roman Catholic missionaries (together with Father Joseph Gotthardt, later Bishop of
Windhoek) visit Gciriku Chief Nyangana in the Kavango. |
Middle 1909 |
After German-British negotiations,
the Bondelswart unit under the command of Abraham Rolf who had surrendered to the British
authorities in South Africa at the beginning of the year is turned over to the Germans. Of
the ten Nama, six are sentenced to death (they are publicly executed in Keetmanshoop)
while four are condemned to life imprisonment and ordered to be kept in chains. In
addition each of the condemned is given 100 lashes with the whip. However, the four Nama
who had been given life sentences manage to escape from jail in Karibib in December 1909. |
June |
A Portuguese military expedition
under the leadership of Joao de Almeida moves from Angola against the Kavango. This
expedition is accompanied by Vita Tom. Some Ovaherero fugitives from Bechuanaland join
Vita. |
01.06. |
The German administration issues a
mining ordinance which establishes the Diamanten-Regie-Gesellschaft to prevent
overproduction and price crashes. All diamonds have to be sold through this organisation.
Since then the diamond trade is completely monopolised by the State. |
22.06. |
King Kambonde of the Ondonga area
in Ovamboland dies. His successor is the eleventh King Kambonde kaNgula (1909-1912). |
06.07. |
The railway line from Seeheim to
Kalkfontein Süd (present-day Karasburg) is opened.  
Railway Bridge over Holoog River: Railway Line: Grünau-Seeheim
Copyright of Photos: Dr. Klaus Dierks
|
06.08. |
The post office at Gochaganas is
closed. |
04.10. |
A post office is opened at
Prinzenbucht. |
01.12. |
A post office is opened at
Brakwater (Windhoek). |
22.12. |
The Governor of German South West
Africa, Von Schuckmann, states that it would be against German interests to accept the
British solution for the south-western border of the Caprivi Strip. This would mean the
loss of a long section of the Chobe River and the Mahango Drift (named after Headman
Mahango) where the Mahango omuramba joins the Okavango River. This drift is the
only drift in the colony that connects German South West Africa with the Caprivi Strip and
Ngamiland in present-day Botswana with southern Angola. The Tawana people of Ngamiland in
Bechuanaland continue to regard the area to 18° south as their territory. |
End 1909 |
Streitwolf estimates that 5 000
Subiya people, 2 500 Fwe, 1 500 Yeyi and 300 Kxoé live in the Caprivi Strip. The
missionaries from Andara estimate that 3 000 Mbukushu live under the control of Chief
Diyeve. 
Ox-Wagon Road Network: German South West Africa: 1909
Source: De Kock, GL, Stellenbosch, 1973 |