Heroes' Acre is an official

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

of the Republic of

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. Built into the uninhabited hills south of the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

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, which ...

, Heroes' Acre opened on 26 August 2002. It was created to "foster a spirit of patriotism and nationalism, and to pass

his His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, ...

to the future generations of Namibia".Windhoek City Council:
What to see, National Monuments in Windhoek

Construction

The memorial was designed and built by Mansudae Overseas Projects, a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

n firm. It is one of four major public works Mansudae constructed in Namibia, the other three being Okahandja Military Museum, a new State House and the Independence Memorial Museum.

Location and description

The Heroes' Acre monument is situated south of Windhoek on the B1 national road to Rehoboth. It is built as a symmetric

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

with a marble obelisk and a bronze statue of the Unknown Soldier at its centre. The site contains parade grounds and a

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

for 5000 people. The burial site consists of 174 tombs, not all of which are occupied.

Notable burials

Presidents

Hage Geingob Hage Gottfried Geingob (3 August 1941 – 4 February 2024) was a Namibian politician who served as the third president of Namibia from 2015 until his death in February 2024. Geingob was the country's first prime minister A prime minister ...

(1941-2024) in one of the mausoleums located at the monument. Geingob, who was at the time in his second term as president, played a pivotal role in the construction of the mausoleums that are reserved for the Namibian President and was the first to be buried in them. * Sam Nujoma (1929-2025)

Honored heroes

At inauguration nine national heroes and heroines were identified. For each of them a

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

with name and picture has been erected, although they are not buried here. The nine national heroes are: # Kahimemua Nguvauva (1850–1896), Chief of the Ovambanderu, was wounded May 1896 in the Battle of Sturmfeld and after his surrender executed by the Germans # Nehale Lya Mpingana (died 1908), King of Ondonga, defeated the settlers of the Dorsland Trek in 1886, and German colonial forces at Fort Namutoni in 1904 # Samuel Maharero (1856–1923), Paramount Chief of the

Herero people The Herero () are a Bantu people, Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. 178,987 Namibians identified as Ovaherero in the 2023 census. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, there ...

, led the uprisings against German colonialism that resulted in the Herero and Nama War of 1904–1907 # Hendrik Witbooi (1830–1905), chief of the ǀKhowesin and fighter against the colonial oppression of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

German South West Africa German South West Africa () 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. German rule over this territory was punctuated by ...

# Jacob Morenga (1875–1907), used the fortress of

ǁKhauxaǃnas ǁKhauxaǃnas (Khoekhoegowab: ''passively defend people from an enemy'', Afrikaans / Dutch language, Dutch name Schans Vlakte: ''fortified valley'') is an uninhabited village with a ruined fortress in south-eastern Namibia, east of the Great Kar ...

to wage a guerrilla war against the ''

Schutztruppe (, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned a ...

'' of Imperial Germany # Mandume Ya Ndemufayo (1894–1917), last king of the Kwanyama, led his people into battles with South African colonial forces Order out of Chaos: Mandume Ya Ndemufayo and Oral History
by Patrica Hayes in the Journal of Southern African Studies, 19.1, March 1993] # Iipumbu Ya Tshilongo (1875–1959), King of the Uukwambi and strong nationalist, resisted European cultural influence exercised via the establishment of

mission station A Christian mission is an organized effort to carry on evangelism, in the name of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries. Sometimes individuals are sent and ...

s and administrative outposts # Anna Mungunda (1910s–1959), protester against the forced eviction from Windhoek's

Old Location The Old Location (or as it was known then the Main Location) was an area Apartheid, segregated for Black residents of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was situated in the area between today's suburbs of Hochland Park and Pioneers Park. Histo ...

in 1959. Set the car of a high-ranking administrator alight and was shot dead in response. # Hosea Kutako (1870–1970), Paramount Chief of the Herero and petitioner to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

for an independent Namibia

Others

In later years, several additional people have been declared national heroes, and buried here. These are: * Dimo Hamaambo (1932–2002), served as the second commander of the

People's Liberation Army of Namibia The People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) was the military wing of the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO). It fought against the South African Defence Force (SADF) and South West Africa Territorial Force (SWATF) during the S ...

* Maxton Joseph Mutongulume (1932–2004), founding member of the Ovamboland People's Congress and long-term

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO ; , SWAVO; , SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia (formerly South West Africa). Founded in 1960, it has been ...

functionary and Central Committee member * Markus Kooper (1918–2005), petitioner to the

* Mose Penaani Tjitendero (1943–2006), first speaker of

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 ...

* Richard Kapelwa Kabajani (1943–2007), former cabinet minister and ambassador to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

* John Pandeni (1950–2008), prisoner of

Robben Island Robben Island () is an island in Table Bay, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of the coast of Bloubergstrand, north of Cape Town, South Africa. It takes its name from the Dutch language, Dutch word for seals (''robben''), hence the Dutch/Afrika ...

and later Namibian Minister * Peter Tsheehama (1941–2010), People's Liberation Army of Namibia commander and Chief of Namibian Intelligence *

John ya Otto Nankudhu John ya Otto Nankudhu (1933–2011, Pseudonym#Nom de guerre, nom de guerre: ''Koshiwanda'', the surname is sometimes also spelled Nankugu) was a Namibian guerrilla, army officer and politician. He was the commander of the forces of the People' ...

(1933–2011), People's Liberation Army of Namibia commander and Robben Island inmate * Frederick Matongo (1946 or 1947–2013) Lieutenant Colonel of the Namibian Defence Force, early participant of the Namibian War of Independence against

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

* Andrew Intamba (1947–2014), first director of the Namibia Central Intelligence Service, and Namibian ambassador to Egypt * Mzee Kaukungwa (1919–2014), veteran of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia and founding member of SWAPO. * Gerson Veii (1939–2015), founding member of the South West Africa National Union (

SWANU The South West Africa National Union (SWANU) is a Namibian political party founded in 1959. Most of its members came from the Herero people, while fellow independence movement SWAPO was mostly an Ovambo people, Ovambo party. Structure and le ...

). Veii is the first opposition party member to be accorded a hero's burial *

Hidipo Hamutenya Hidipo Livius Hamutenya (17 June 1939 – 6 October 2016) was a Namibian politician. He died aged 77 after a short illness. A long-time leading member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Hamutenya was a member of the Cabinet ...

(1939–2016), former cabinet minister, long-time leading member of SWAPO, founder of

RDP RDP may refer to: Computing * Ramer–Douglas–Peucker algorithm, an algorithm for polygonal simplification * Recombination detection program, for analysing genetic recombination * Recursive descent parser, a type of top-down parser * Remote Desk ...

. * Andimba Toivo ya Toivo (1924–2017), anti-apartheid activist, politician and political prisoner. Founding member of SWAPO. *

Theo-Ben Gurirab Theo-Ben Gurirab (23 January 1938 – 14 July 2018) was a Namibian politician who served in various senior government positions. He served as the second prime minister of Namibia from 28 August 2002 to 20 March 2005, following the demotion and ...

(1938–2018), former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, former Speaker of the

, veteran diplomat of SWAPO. There are further National Heroes of Namibia without any connection to Heroe's Acre, namely: *

Niko Bessinger Nikolaus Onverwag 'Niko' Bessinger (12 June 1948 – 25 March 2008) was a Namibian politician and independence activist. Bessinger was born on 12 June 1948 in Walvis Bay, South West Africa. Born into the Goreseb clan which is closely related to ...

* David Moses Meroro *

John Mutwa Lieutenant General John Sinvula Mutwa (23 September 1960 – 17 June 2021) was a Namibian military officer whose last appointment was as chief of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF). He was appointed the commander of the Namibian Army in 2011, and ...

* Ida Jimmy (1945–2024) Seven veterans of the Namibian liberation struggle were reburied on Heroes' Acre in 2014: * Peter Nanyemba * Walde Homateni Timoteus Kaluenya * Isak "Pondo" Shikongo * Natalia Ndahambelela Shikangala Mavulu * Augustus "McNamara" Nghaamwa * Putuse Appolus * Lineekela Kalenga On 26 August 2015, Namibia's

Heroes' Day Heroes' Day or National Heroes' Day may refer to a number of commemorations of national heroes in different countries and territories. It is often held on the birthday of a national hero or heroine, or the anniversary of their great deeds that ...

, three more veterans were reburied on Heroes' Acre: *

Moses ǁGaroëb Moses Mague ǁGaroëb (14 April 1942, in Arixas near Mariental – 19 August 1997, in Windhoek) was a Namibian politician, founding member of SWAPO, and member of SWAPO's Politburo and Central Committee. During his political career, ǁGaroë ...

* Peter Mweshihange * Anton Lubowski

Construction controversy

Mansudae Overseas Projects, a company from

was given a N$60 million contract from Namibia to build the monument. The contract was awarded without any competitive tendering process, and eventually the construction cost doubled. The non-transparent contracting of foreign manual labour has been criticised by corruption watchdog '' insight Namibia''. The memorial has been described as "monstrous" and its erection was speculated to "reveal a lack of African self-confidence". The statue of the Unknown Soldier resembles the physical features of Sam Nujoma (1929-2025), Namibia's founding president and ultimately the initiator of its erection. In May 2005, a report in ''

The Namibian ''The Namibian'' is the largest daily newspaper in Namibia. It is published in English and Oshiwambo. History The newspaper was established in 1985 by journalist Gwen Lister as a weekly newspaper reliant on support of donors, which aimed to ...

'' noted that Heroes' Acre was "already showing signs of decay". In particular, a bronze statue of a soldier had suffered damage, as had the plinth on which it stood. Some of the gold-coloured letters forming an inscription on the plinth were broken or missing, and the letters were "made of a cement-like substance, which had been painted gold and then glued to the plinth".

References

{{coord, -22.6638, 17.0783, display=title Buildings and structures in Windhoek Buildings and structures completed in 2002 Mansudae Overseas Projects Military history of Namibia Military of Namibia * Cemeteries in Namibia Monuments and memorials in Namibia 2002 establishments in Namibia Cemeteries established in the 2000s