National Museum of Namibia
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The National Museum of Namibia is a historical and zoological
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 ...
in
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 ...
, the capital of
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 ...
.


Location and description

The National Museum is accommodated at three different places in central Windhoek. The ''Owela Display Centre'' (after the
Owela Owela, also referred to by the Khoekhoe language loanword hus, () is the Oshiwambo name of a traditional mancala board game played by the Nama people, Herero people, Rukwangali speakers, and other ethnic groups from Namibia (and its Southe ...
board game) houses the zoological and general scientific collection. It is located in
Lüderitz Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. The town is known for its colonial architecture, includ ...
Street, sharing a building with the
Windhoek Public Library The Windhoek Public Library is a public library in downtown Windhoek, 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 ...
. The ''Alte Feste Museum'' houses the historic collection. It is accommodated at the
Alte Feste The Alte Feste (Old Fortress) is a fortress and museum in downtown Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. The building was designed by captain Curt von François to serve as headquarters of the imperial German ''Schutztruppe'' (colonial military for ...
building in Robert Mugabe Avenue, next to the
Independence Memorial Museum Independence Memorial Museum in Colombo, Sri Lanka is located in the basement of the Independence Memorial Hall, Independence Square (formally Torrington Square) in the Cinnamon Gardens. It is maintained by the Department of National Museum. The ...
. Administration and the National Museum Library, established in 1963, are situated also on Robert Mugabe Avenue, opposite the ''Alte Feste''.


History

A museum was established by the Imperial German administration of
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 ...
in 1907. It was called the ''Landesmuseum'' (german: state museum). In 1925, with the territory now under
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 ...
n administration, the museum was renamed the ''South West Africa museum''. Responsibility of the museum was transferred to the
South African government The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive auth ...
of
South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...
in 1957, and the name changed to ''State museum''. After
Namibian independence The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990. From 1884, Namibia was a German colony: German South West Africa. After the First ...
in 1990 it was administered by the
Government of Namibia The government of Namibia consists of the executive, the legislative and the judiciary branches. The Cabinet is the executive organ of government, implementing the laws of the country. It consists of the president, the prime minister and his dep ...
, and in 1994 the name was changed to ''National Museum of Namibia''.


References


Notes


Further reading

* Antje Otto-Reiner: ''From Landesmuseum to National Museum of Namibia.'' The National Museum of Namibia, Windhoek 2007. {{coord missing, Namibia Museums in Namibia Libraries in Namibia Tourist attractions in Namibia Buildings and structures in Windhoek Museums established in 1907 1907 establishments in German South West Africa