VENTURES AFRICA – Swakopmund is a 35,000 inhabitant’s beach resort in Namibia located on the Atlantic coast. A city where German and Afrikaans is used more than English, it was established by the German settlers in 1892, about fifty kilometers north of the great Namibian port of Walvis Bay.
Seen as Namibia’s main tourist town, with the exception of Windhoek, it welcomes a growing number of tour operators every year. With its luxurious resorts crammed by European and South African visitors, Swakopmund is a choke point between the dunes of the Namib Desert and the Skeleton Coast and the north.
Although a seaside city, it is not apt for swimming due to the particularly cold water, which stretches along the coast of Namibia, giving the desert environment a peculiar scenery.
Swakopmund offers a good starting point for the Namib-Naukluft and Damaraland. One can easily spend two days enroute Swakopmund Damara land via the Skeleton Coast and the Namib Desert. Extreme outdoor sports are also a must-try; activities such as: sand boarding, quad biking or free fall is perfect for this location.
In early 2001, Swakopmund was about to lose its soul when German municipal authorities decided to rename the fifteen downtown streets, to distort the very special relationship that existed between the architecture and toponymy but most of the old names still occurred among residents.
The most symbolic building is Swakopmund Hohenzollern, an imposing Victorian baroque style double-storied building, with its high mansard roof, was erected during 1905-1906 for Hermann Dietz. The building is a relic of the German colonial era. It was mostly used hotel – Hotel Höhenzollern – and was named after a German Imperial family. After its hotel days the Höhenzollern became an administrative building before the rooms were rented out to members of the public. Two extensions flanking the main building were added, designed to blend in with the outstanding architecture. They were in time partitioned and sold on as sectional title units.
The ornate style of the Höhenzollern Building, Swakopmund is a neo-baroque, unique in architectural designs in Namibia. It contains Renaissance bays, gables and balconies and the ornaments were produced by Croatian builders initially drafted for the construction of the Otavi railway line. The Atlas figure on the top of the front of the building bears the world on his shoulders, in line with Greek mythology. Other female figures pertaining to the same belief can be found elsewhere in the structure as well as ornate angels, lions and masks. These beautiful decorative additions complement the overall standing of the building, making it a popular tourist attraction in Swakopmund.
With German South-West Africa as a German Protectorate, a very strong colonial influence can be seen in the architecture and fortunately the buildings have been maintained and preserved so well.
Swakopmund, the largest coastal town of Namibia attracts a myriad of revelers and tourists from around the world. If you’re visiting, make sure you indulge in sand boarding or motorcycling in the heart of the dunes. Dine and relax in a quaint restaurant on the shore or admire the exotic birds and plants that inhabit the area.
.....Africa is Beautiful.
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