Keetmanshoop is a town in the

ǁKaras Region The ǁKharas Region (pronounced , with a lateral click, former name Karas Region, without the click) is the southernmost, largest, and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the r ...

of southern

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 ...

. It is named after , a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

industrialist and benefactor of the city. Keetmanshoop had a population of 27,862 people in 2023.

History

Before the colonial era, the settlement was known as ''ǂNuǂgoaes'' or ''Swartmodder'', both meaning "Black Marsh" and indicating the presence of a spring in the area. The first white settler, Guilliam Visagie, arrived here in 1785. When in February 1850 the Kharoǃoan clan (

Keetmanshoop Nama Keetmanshoop is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It is named after , a German Empire, German industrialist and benefactor of the city. Keetmanshoop had a population of 27,862 people in 2023. History Before the colonial era, ...

) split from the

Red Nation "Red Nation" is a song by American rapper and West Coast hip-hop, West Coast hip hop artist The Game (rapper), Game featuring vocals from rapper Lil Wayne, from his anticipated fourth studio album ''The R.E.D. Album''. Released as the album's lead ...

, the main subtribe of the

Nama people Nama (in older sources also called Namaqua) are an African ethnic group of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. They traditionally speak the Khoekhoe language, Nama language of the Khoe languages, Khoe-Kwadi language family, although many Nama ...

, they settled permanently in the area. In 1860 the

Rhenish Missionary Society The Rhenish Missionary Society (''Rhenish'' of the river Rhine; , ''RMG'') was one of the largest Protestant missionary society, missionary societies in Germany. Formed from smaller missions founded as far back as 1799, the Society was amalgamate ...

founded a mission there to christianise the local

. The first missionary, Johann Georg Schröder, arrived in Keetmanshoop on April 14, 1866, which is now marked as the founding date of Keetmanshoop. The mission station was named after the German trader and director of the Rhenish Missionary Society, , who supported the mission financially, although he never actually visited the place himself.

Economy and infrastructure

Keetmanshoop is an important centre for the Karakul sheep farming community. Keetmanshoop is connected to the

TransNamib TransNamib Holdings Limited (TransNamib) is a List of state-owned enterprises in Namibia, state-owned railway company in Namibia. Organised as a holding company, it provides both rail and road freight services, as well as passenger rail services. ...

railway system, situated on the line from

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 ...

Upington Upington () is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of olive wood trees i ...

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 ...

. The J. Stephanus Stadium is located in Keetmanshoop and is home to Fedics United F.C., a football team in the

Namibia Premier League The Namibia Premier League (NPL) was the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia until it was disbanded following the 2018-19 season. The league was established in 1990 and was trimmed to 12 teams from the traditional 16 in 2005 ...

Geography

Close to Keetmanshoop is the Naute Dam and the Neckartal Dam, the largest dam in the country.

Natural history

The town is situated near two quiver tree forests, one of them being a

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

and a major tourist attraction of Namibia. It is also close to the Giant's Playground, a natural geological feature formed about 180 million years ago that consists of

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

rocks that look as if they were stacked by giants. Near Keetsmanshoop are notable localities for fossil ''

Mesosaurus ''Mesosaurus'' (meaning "middle lizard") is an extinct genus of reptile from the Early Permian of southern Africa and South America. Along with it, the genera '' Brazilosaurus'' and '' Stereosternum'', it is a member of the family Mesosauridae ...

'', an extinct genus of reptile from the Early

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

of southern Africa and South America.

Climate

Keetmanshoop has a hot desert climate ( Köppen climate classification ''BWh''), with long, very hot summers and cool winters. The annual average rainfall is only . Keetmanshoop is one of the sunniest places year-round on the planet with a mean

sunshine duration Sunshine duration or sunshine hours is a climatological indicator, measuring duration of sunshine in given period (usually, a day or a year) for a given location on Earth, typically expressed as an averaged value over several years. It is a gene ...

over 3,870 hours yearly or 10.7 hours of sunshine daily, well above 87% of the time. The annual mean temperature is 21.1 °C (70.0 °F) with a mean annual high of 28.8 °C (83.8 °F) and a low of 13.3 °C (55.9 °F). The climate is characterised by sunshine and dryness as well as moderate heat all year long.

Demographics

Politics

Keetmanshoop is a municipality, governed by council that comprises seven seats. In the 2010 local authority election, a total of 3,156 votes were cast in the city.

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 ...

won with approximately 48% of the vote. Of the three other parties seeking votes in the election, Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) received approximately 35% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Party of Namibia (DPN, 10%) and the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA, 7%). The 2015 local authority election was won by SWAPO by a much larger margin. SWAPO accumulated 2,337 votes and won five seats in the municipal council. DTA (538 votes) and RDP (186 votes) gained one seat each. The 2020 Namibian local authority election was won by LPM. LPM accumulated 3,619 votes and won five seats in the municipal council. SWAPO (1648 votes) gained two seats.

Notable buildings and structures

The Rhenish Missionary Church was erected in 1895 and now also contains a museum. It was declared a historic monument in 1978 and is a well-known landmark. Its unique combination of Gothic architecture cast in African stone makes it one of the architectural masterpieces in the country and a popular tourist attraction. Other notable buildings are the Schützenhaus (''marksmen's club house'', 1905–07), the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

building (1908) and the Imperial Post Office (now the Keetmanshoop tourist information, erected in 1910).

Notable people

* Anthony Antoncich (1917–1998),

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

pilot, born in Keetmanshoop * Dawid Bezuidenhout (1935–1998), first chairman of the Transitional Government of National Unity, born in Keetmanshoop * Hellmut von Leipzig (1921–2016), combat driver of

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of ...

, born in Keetmanshoop * John Ya-Otto (1938–1994), member of the

Constituent Assembly of Namibia Below is a list of members of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia, which became the National Assembly of Namibia upon independence in March 1990. Individual members were selected by political parties voted for in the 1989 election, the first ...

and former ambassador to Angola, grew up in Keetmanshoop

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Namibia Populated places in the ǁKaras Region Populated places founded by Afrikaners Regional capitals in Namibia 1866 establishments in South West Africa Populated places established in 1866