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The Parliament Building, Windhoek, also known as ''Tintenpalast'' ( German for ''Ink Palace''), is the seat of both houses of the
Parliament of Namibia The Parliament of Namibia is the national legislature of Namibia. It is a bicameral legislature and, thus, consists of two houses: the National Council ( upper house) and the National Assembly (lower house). All cabinet members are also membe ...
(the National Council and the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
). It is located in the Namibian capital of
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 2 ...
. The Tintenpalast, which is located just north of Robert Mugabe Avenue, was designed by German architect Gottlieb Redecker with Neoclassical front façade and built by the company Sander & Kock between 1912 and 1913 out of regional materials as an administration building for the German government, which
colonised Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...
Namibia at the time. The building project used forced labour by Herero and
Nama people Nama (in older sources also called Namaqua) are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Nama language of the Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama also speak Afrikaans. The Nama Peo ...
who, having survived the
Herero and Namaqua genocide The Herero and Namaqua genocide or the Herero and Nama genocide was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment waged by the German Empire against the Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama in German South West Africa (now Namibia). ...
, had been placed in
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...
s. The building was opened on 12 April 1913. As an allusion to the large ink usage by the workers in the building, it was named "Tintenpalast" or "Ink Palace". When Namibia achieved its independence in 1990, the Tintenpalast became the seat of the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
. Due to a change to the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...
in 2014, the number of parliamentarians increased significantly. As a result, there have been calls for a bigger parliament building, since many parliamentarians and support staff are not able to be housed in the Tintenpalast. Moses Ndjarakana argues that the "structure and shape of the Chamber is not conducive to a House of the People" and that the "current state of affairs with regard to office space" is "miserable and undesirable as it contributes to an ineffective service delivery system." The Tintenpalast is surrounded by the Parliament Gardens, which is very popular among the inhabitants of Windhoek.


References

Notes Citations {{Windhoek Government buildings completed in 1913 Legislative buildings Buildings and structures in Windhoek Seats of national legislatures Parliament of Namibia 1913 establishments in the German colonial empire