Joseph Gotthardt (16 December 1880 – 3 August 1963) was a

Catholic 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 ...

missionary and later

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

and Archbishop in South-West Africa (today

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 ...

). He was the first to set up missions in the

Kavango Region Kavango (before 1998: Okavango) was one of the thirteen regions of Namibia until it was split into the Kavango East and Kavango West Regions in 2013. Its capital was Rundu. In the north, Kavango bordered the Cuando Cubango Province of Angola, and ...

and in

Ovamboland Ovamboland, also referred to as Owamboland, was a Bantustan in South West Africa (present-day Namibia), intended by the apartheid government to be a self-governing homeland for the Ovambo people. The term originally referred to the parts ...

, became the first

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

Early life and missionary work

Gotthardt was born in Thalheim in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...

. He attended the ''Oblate Congregation'' in the Limburg Province in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

from 1900 to 1905 and graduated as priest. He worked as Junior Lecturer directly after being ordained until 1907 and was then sent to

Grootfontein , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = Fons Vitæ , image_skyline = Grootfontein grass.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_si ...

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

. Soon after his arrival he in Namibia he led the sixth and seventh mission journeys to the

Kavango region Kavango (before 1998: Okavango) was one of the thirteen regions of Namibia until it was split into the Kavango East and Kavango West Regions in 2013. Its capital was Rundu. In the north, Kavango bordered the Cuando Cubango Province of Angola, and ...

—a difficult assignment considering that the leader of the indigenous population, ''Hompa'' (King)

Nyangana Nyangana is a village in the Ndiyona Constituency in Kavango East Region of north-eastern Namibia, situated east of Rundu. The Roman Catholic mission of Nyangana is located in the village. History The settlement is named after Nyangana, king ...

of the Va Gciriku was a fierce critic of all European influence, and particularly that of missionaries. The previous five mission journeys into the Kavango had been unsuccessful but the seventh led to the establishment of a mission station at

in 1910 and at

Andara Andara is a village in Mukwe Constituency in the Kavango East region of north-eastern Namibia. Located east of Rundu, it is inhabited primarily by the Hambukushu people. Founding of the Catholic mission Catholic fathers of the organization Mi ...

in 1913. Gotthardt also developed the first mission station in former

, at

Oshikuku Oshikuku is a town in Omusati Region in the north of Namibia. It is the district capital of Oshikuku Constituency. Oshikuku features a secondary school, Nuuyoma Senior Secondary School, and a hospital. Its neighbouring villages are Outapi, El ...

, in 1924.

Church career

Gotthardt was appointed Prefect Apostolic of

Cimbebasia Cimbebasia was the name given for a long time to the western part of Southern Africa. Its borders in the north were the Kunene River, the lower Kasai River and the western reaches of the Zambezi River. ''Cimbebasia'' was also a journal published b ...

in 1921, replacing the retired Eugenio Klaeyle. When the prefecture became the Windhoek Vicariate soon thereafter, he became Vicar and was ordained as bishop at

Hünfeld Hünfeld is a town in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 16 km northeast of Fulda. In 2000, the town hosted the 40th Hessentag state festival. Hünfeld has a population close to 16,000. Infrastructure Transport The f ...

in Germany in 1924, becoming the leader of the Catholic Church in South-West Africa. In 1923, he published a widely received paper ''The awakening of Africa and the duties of the Catholic church'' in which he portrayed the "unhappy entanglement" of colonisation and mission, one of the first pieces of criticism of colonisation in Namibia. After serving 25 years in the position of Vicar, Pope Pius XII appointed him as archbishop in 1951. After more than 50 years of service, Gotthardt resigned at the age of 80 in May 1961. He died in

Swakopmund Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers ...

on 3 August 1963.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gotthard, Joseph German Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Namibia 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Africa 1880 births 1963 deaths German expatriate bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Windhoek