, nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = Fons Vitæ , image_skyline = Grootfontein grass.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , image_shield = Grootfontein COA.svg , shield_size = 200px , image_blank_emblem = , blank_emblem_type = , blank_emblem_size = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Namibia , pushpin_label_position = bottom , pushpin_mapsize = 300 , pushpin_map_caption = Location in Namibia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 =

Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

, subdivision_name1 = Otjozondjupa Region , subdivision_type2 =

Constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

, subdivision_name2 = Grootfontein constituency , subdivision_type3 = , subdivision_name3 = , government_footnotes = , government_type = , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Haimene , leader_title1 = , leader_name1 = , established_title = Established , established_date = 1885 , area_magnitude = , unit_pref =Imperial , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = , area_land_km2 = , area_water_km2 = , area_total_sq_mi = , population_as_of = 2011 , population_footnotes = , population_note = , population_total = 23793 , population_density_km2 = , population_density_sq_mi = , population_metro = , population_density_metro_km2 = , population_density_metro_sq_mi = , population_urban = , population_density_urban_km2 = , population_density_urban_sq_mi = , population_blank1_title =Ethnicities , population_blank1 = , population_density_blank1_km2 = , population_density_blank1_sq_mi = , timezone =

SAST South African Standard Time (SAST) is the time zone used by all of South Africa as well as Eswatini and Lesotho. The zone is two hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+02:00) and is the same as Central Africa Time. Daylight saving time is not observed in ...

, utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = , utc_offset_DST = , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = , elevation_ft = , blank_name_sec1 =

Climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

, blank_info_sec1 = BSh , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = 067 , blank_name = , blank_info = , blank1_name = , blank1_info = , website = http://www.grootfonteinmun.com.na/ , footnotes = Grootfontein ( en, great spring, named after the nearby

hot springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

) is a city of 23,793 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of central

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It is one of the three towns in the Otavi Triangle, situated on the B8 national road that leads from

Otavi Otavi is a town of 4,000 inhabitants in the Otjozondjupa Region of central Namibia. Situated 360 km north of Windhoek, it is the district capital of the Otavi electoral constituency. Geography The towns of Otavi, Tsumeb (to the north) and ...

to the Caprivi Strip.

Overview

The place was known to the

Herero Herero may refer to: * Herero people The Herero ( hz, Ovaherero) are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. There were an estimated 250,000 Herero people in Namibia in 2013. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though t ...

under the name ''Otjivanda''. In 1885, 40

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

families from the north-west of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

settled at Grootfontein. Part of the Dorsland trekkers, they were heading towards

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

. When that territory fell under Portuguese control, they turned back and established the Republic of Upingtonia at Grootfontein. Abandoned by 1887, it became the headquarters of the South West Africa Company in 1893. In 1908 the

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

established a mission in Grootfontein as the basis of their eventually successful attempt to establish missions in Kavango. Like all the towns in the Otavi Triangle, Grootfontein is green in summer but drier in winter. In spring, jacaranda and flamboyant trees bloom in profusion. The town has an old German Schutztruppe fortress from the year 1896, which today houses a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

that expounds on the local history. The economic mainspring of the area were for many decades the

Berg Aukas Berg may refer to: People * Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states *Berg (state), county and duchy of the Hol ...

and Abenab mines to the north east of the town. These produced

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

and

vanadium Vanadium is a chemical element with the symbol V and atomic number 23. It is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal. The elemental metal is rarely found in nature, but once isolated artificially, the formation of an oxide layer ( pass ...

but have since closed. This is

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

country and the

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate ...

deposits in the upper parts of the mine have yielded interesting

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of

simian The simians, anthropoids, or higher primates are an infraorder (Simiiformes ) of primates containing all animals traditionally called monkeys and apes. More precisely, they consist of the parvorders New World monkeys (Platyrrhini) and Cat ...

pongoid Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ' ...

creatures that lived millions of years before modern humans evolved. Hoba Meteorite 2007

Twenty four kilometres west of Grootfontein lies the huge

Hoba meteorite The Hoba ( ) meteorite, short for Hoba West, is a meteorite that lies on the farm of the same name, not far from Grootfontein, in the Otjozondjupa Region of Namibia. It has been uncovered, but because of its large mass, has never been moved from ...

. At over 60 tons, it is the largest known

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object ...

on Earth, as well as being the largest naturally occurring mass of iron known to exist on the planet's surface.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Grootfontein is a

railhead In the UK, railheading refers to the practice of travelling further than necessary to reach a rail service, typically by car. The phenomenon is common among commuters seeking a more convenient journey. Reasons for railheading include, but are ...

on TransNamib, the national railway and transport system. The next station to the west is

. Grootfontein is also home of Namibia's main military base which housed several units of the now departed

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

. It has an airfield that can handle large transport carriers such as the Hercules C130, as well as commercial passenger aircraft.

Agriculture

''Grootfontein Show'', an annual agricultural exhibition that takes place since 1911, is the second largest annual entrepreneurial exhibition in the country, after

Windhoek Show The Windhoek Industrial and Agricultural Show (WIAS, short: the Windhoek Show) is an annual trade fair in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It combines an agricultural exhibition, several industrial and retail offerings, and a range of entertainme ...

Climate

Grootfontein receives an annual average rainfall of , with a high of in the 2010/2011 rainy season, and a low of during the 2010s drought in 2018/19.

Politics

Grootfontein is governed by a municipal council that has seven seats. The 2015 local authority election was won by Namibia's ruling

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

party which gained five seats and 2,019 votes. One seat each went to the

Democratic Turnhalle Alliance The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(DTA, 546 votes) and to the All People's Party (APP, 154 votes). SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election, obtaining 1,727 votes and gaining four seats. The

Independent Patriots for Change The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) is a political party in Namibia. It was founded by Panduleni Itula in August 2020. As an independent presidential candidate in the November 2019 election, Itula won the best result of a losing candid ...

(IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 653 votes and gained two seats. The remaining seat went to the

Popular Democratic Movement The Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), formerly the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), is an amalgamation of political parties in Namibia, registered as one singular party for representation purposes. In coalition with the United Democratic ...

(PDM, the new name of the DTA) with 309 votes.

Education

Previously the German school ''Regierungsschule Grootfontein'' was in the town. In 1965 it had 4 teachers and 117 learners and was supported by German government. Grootfontein is home to four high schools, Grootfontein Secondary School, Otjiwanda High School Friedrich Awaseb Senior Secondary School, and the private school with the name Karstveld Academy, further the primary schools Luiperdheuwel, Kalenga, Makalani, Omulunga and Wilhelm Nortier. The city also hosts a private

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

primary school (''Deutsche Privatschule Grootfontein'' - DPG).

Notable people from Grootfontein

Behati Prinsloo Behati Prinsloo ( , ; born 16 May 1988) is a Namibian model. In 2008, she became a Pink contract model, and moved on to become a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2009. She walked in ten Victoria's Secret Fashion Shows (2007–2015; 2018), and opened c ...

– model, best known for working with

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ...

and Wife of Maroon 5 frontman,

Adam Levine Adam Noah Levine (; born March 18, 1979) is an American singer and songwriter. He serves as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine began his musical career in 1994 with the band Kara's Flowers, of which ...

Leon Jooste Leon Jooste (born 18 February 1969 in Grootfontein, Otjozondjupa Region) is a Namibian politician and businessperson who served as Minister of Public Enterprises until 1 December 2022. Education and early life Jooste attended school at Paul Roo ...

–

politician and businessmanLeon Jooste
Namibia Institute for Democracy *

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (born 3 August 1941) is a Namibian politician, serving as the third president of Namibia since 21 March 2015. Geingob was the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 1990 to 2002, and served as prime minister again from 201 ...

– The President of the Republic of Namibia *

Lydia Katjita Lydia Katjita (born 15 October 1953 in Omatjete, Erongo Region, Namibia) is a former member of the National Assembly of Namibia and the Pan-African Parliament. Biography Lydia Katjita was born 15 October 1953 in Omatjete in the Erongo Region of ...

– SWAPO politician and member of the

Pan-African Parliament The Pan-African Parliament (PAP), also known as the African Parliament, is the legislative body of the African Union. It held its inaugural session in March 2004. The Parliament exercises oversight, and has advisory and consultative powers, ha ...

* Hannes Smith – journalist *

Inge Zaamwani Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi (born 11 November 1958 in Grootfontein, Otjozondjupa Region) is a Namibian businesswoman and presidential advisor. She was formerly the managing director of Namdeb, the mining joint venture between the government of Namibi ...

– businesswoman

External links

*
Web site of the Alte Fort Museum in the former German Schutztruppe fortress

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the Otjozondjupa Region Cities in Namibia Capitals of former nations Populated places founded by Afrikaners Hot springs of Namibia Catholic missions in Namibia