Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Namibia Namibia Germany'

The present thesis deals with the Namibian liberation struggle against the South African regime, by focusing on the relationship of solidarity between SWAPO and East Germany. It provides an original perspective of the German-Namibian history between 1978-1990, by using the life stories of Lucia Engombe and Stefanie Lahya Aukongo. They are Namibian women who, according to the pact of solidarity, lived on the brink between Namibia and East Germany, becoming in this way witnesses of the historical upheavals that have changed the global order. Then, this thesis makes use of Child No. 95. My German-African Odyssey – the autobiography of Lucia Engombe – and Kalungas Kind: meine unglaubliche Reise uns Leben – the autobiography of Stefanie Layha Aukongo – as sources to investigate the complexities of that period. The global lives of Lucia Engombe and Stefanie Lahya Aukongo allow the combination of macro and micro history and bring out new facets, which otherwise would remain in the shadow. Through the deconstruction of their life narratives, in fact, the big narrative of the global history become fraught with new meanings, bringing out the power of microhistories. This thesis shows how individual autobiographies can be meaningful to history, and how global history can be reconciled with micro-history through the story of global lives, which provide new and unprecedented points of view.

This essay seeks to give an account of the German-Herero/Nama conflict of 1903-1907, often labelled the first genocide of the 20th century, and to address the question, whether the Namibian tribes of the Herero and Nama have the right to claim reparations from Germany. After explaining the historical narrative, a legal discussion is held which underlines the complexity of the issue, bringing in the difficulty of the definition of “genocide” as a legal term, the question of German state succession, as well as the domestic struggles of contemporary Namibian politics. With all factors taken into consideration the conclusion is reached that the question is not answerable with a simple “yes” or “no”, but must ultimately be solved in direct negotiations between the involved parties.

Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigt einerseits überblicksartig, gleichzeitig aber auch ins Detail gehend, vor allem die kartographische Entwicklung von Namibia von den Anfängen im 18. Jh. bis zur Unabhängigkeit im Jahr 1990. Dabei werden neben der eigentlichen Kartographie auch die wichtigsten damit im Zusammenhang stehenden Entwicklungen der Forschungsreisen, des Vermessungswesens, der allgemeinen Verwaltung des Landes und der Organisation des Karten- und Vermessungswesens im Gebiet des heutigen Namibia, im Deutschen Reich und in Südafrika dargestellt. Diese Ausweitung des Themas erwies sich als notwendig, um die Hintergründe und das geschichtliche und politische Umfeld mancher kartographischen Entwicklung deutlich und verständlich machen zu können. Damit liegt erstmals eine umfassende Dokumentation über die Kartographie von Namibia vor. Die Gliederung der Arbeit in die drei großen Zeitabschnitte der vorkolonialen, der deutschen Kolonial- und der südafrikanischen Mandatszeit ermöglicht die genaue Differenzierung von politischen und verwaltungstechnischen Abhängigkeiten bei der Kartenherstellung. Allerdings muss auch berücksichtigt werden, dass unterschiedliche Entwicklungsstadien nicht nur vom Herrschaftsträger abhängig waren. Der Vergleich zu anderen Kolonien des südlichen und zentralen Afrika, aber auch der weiterreichende Blick auf alle europäischen Afrikakolonien zeigt, dass Fortschritte im jeweiligen Karten- und Vermessungswesen neben der politischen und wirtschaftlichen Wertschätzung der Kolonie und der Macht des Mutterlandes (Deutschland, Portugal, Großbritannien, Frankreich) vor allem auch von der Größe, der Lage, der sehr verschiedenartigen Natur und dem Klima des entsprechenden Gebietes bestimmt wurden. Im Gegensatz zu der relativ langsamen, aber kontinuierlichen Entwicklung der Vermessungsmethoden und der kartographischen Darstellung in Europa sind in den Kolonien eher ruckartige Veränderungen zu verzeichnen, die mit dem Import der europäischen Methoden und Instrumente in infrastrukturell unterentwickelte Gebiete einhergingen. Die Entwicklung afrikanischer und im Besonderen südwestafrikanischer Karten zeigt drei Phasen: Zunächst erfolgte die Aufnahme der Küsten während der Entdeckungsreisen des 15. und 16. Jhs. und durch spezielle Forschungsreisen vor allem im 17. und beginnenden 18. Jh. Die Erforschung und kartographische Darstellung des Landesinnern begann dagegen zögernd erst Ende des 18. und Anfang des 19. Jhs. In SWA ist der Grund dafür vor allem in den schlechten Zugangsmöglichkeiten auf Grund der Wüstengebiete zu suchen. Träger dieser Aufnahmen waren hauptsächlich Missionare und Forschungsreisende. Innerhalb der nächsten 100 Jahre konnte in Südwestafrika ein grobes topographisches Grundwissen aufgebaut werden, das zur Orientierung im Land meist ausreichte. Mit der Eroberung Afrikas durch europäische Kolonialmächte Ende des 19. Jhs. begann die dritte Phase. Diese war in Südwestafrika durch die deutsche Kolonialherrschaft bestimmt und ist vor allem geprägt durch die Suche nach geeigneten Aufnahmemethoden und Darstellungswegen, um die riesigen, teilweise menschenleeren Gegenden in wirtschaftlich verantwortbarer, aber auch militärisch und verwaltungstechnisch nutzbarer Form kartographisch darzustellen. Ihren Höhepunkt erreicht diese Phase jedoch erst nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg, in Südwestafrika sogar erst in den 1970er Jahren mit dem Einsatz moderner Aufnahmetechniken. In gleichen Phasen vollzog sich auch der Übergang von Kontinentkarten über lineare Routenaufnahmen mit stark wechselnden Maßstäben hin zu flächendeckenden topographischen Abbildungen. Mit diesen Veränderungen war auch eine Wandlung des Aussagewertes der Karten verbunden. Wie in Europa war die Kartenherstellung in Südwestafrika seit 1904 vor allem durch das Militär und dessen Bedürfnisse geprägt. Damit besaß das Land gegenüber den anderen deutschen Afrikakolonien eine Sonderstellung. Im Gegensatz zu den anderen deutschen Kolonien, aber in Anlehnung an das landschaftlich und klimatisch vergleichbare Südafrika wurde seit dem Hererokrieg 1904 eine großzügige und möglichst flächendeckende geodätische Vermessung durch Triangulation durchgeführt. Dagegen lagen die Katastervermessung und alle damit in Zusammenhang stehenden Arbeiten wie im Deutschen Reich in den Händen der zivilen Behörden. Allerdings war die Trennung der Aufgaben, bedingt durch die alleinige Zuständigkeit der Zivilverwaltung für alle Vermessungs- und Kartierungsangelegenheiten in Südwestafrika vor 1904, nicht ganz so deutlich wie im Deutschen Reich. Die dadurch bedingten regelmäßigen Kompetenzstreitigkeiten und die mangelnde Anerkennung der Arbeiten der Gegenseite verursachten die Behinderung zügiger Fortschritte in der Kartenherstellung sowie erhebliche zusätzliche Kosten. Die Koordinierung und Organisation der Arbeiten in Südwestafrika während der deutschen Kolonialzeit zeigt deutliche Mängel. Trotzdem kann das kartographisch Erreichte als positiv bewertet werden. Natürlich können aus heutiger Perspektive verschiedene Entscheidungen und Vorgehensweisen kritisiert werden. Für die damalige Zeit, die vorhandenen Mittel, Instrumente und Methoden, die Anzahl des Personals und im Wissen um die infrastrukturellen und Lebensbedingungen sind die erzielten Ergebnisse, ob das die Einzelkarten, räumlich definierte Kartenwerke oder solche des ganzen Landes betrifft, eine große Leistung. Das zeigt sich umso mehr im Vergleich zu den Nachbarstaaten, von denen beim Beginn des Ersten Weltkrieges keines so zahlreiche und gute Kartenmaterialien vorweisen konnte. Aber auch während der südafrikanischen Mandatszeit seit 1920 waren die Kompetenzen und Zuständigkeiten nicht eindeutig geregelt. Zunächst besaß Südwestafrika eine Sonderstellung gegenüber den Provinzen der Südafrikanischen Union, indem das Vermessungsamt in Windhuk für alle Vermessungs- und Kartierungsarbeiten des Landes zuständig war. Damit war das Mandatsgebiet in gewisser Weise aber auch von den methodischen und technischen Fortschritten, vor allem des Trigsurvey, abgekoppelt. Andererseits nutzte man diese Unabhängigkeit in Windhuk für eigene Wege, vor allem beim Druck der Karten in Southampton. Spätestens seit dem Beginn der Herstellung der landesweiten Kartenwerke in den Maßstäben 1:50 000, 1:250 000 und kleiner in den 1960er Jahren wurden die kartographischen Arbeiten dann aber von Südafrika bestimmt und kontrolliert. Trotz dieser Probleme lässt sich sowohl für die deutsche Kolonialzeit als auch für die südafrikanische Mandatszeit eine Vielzahl guter und von unterschiedlichen Autoren stammender Karten als Einzelwerke, als Beilage zu diversen Berichten oder als Kartenwerke feststellen. Flächendeckende Triangulationen stellen daneben eine bedeutende Entwicklung für die lagerichtige Wiedergabe der Topographie auf der Karte dar. Dass die deutsche Kolonialzeit in der vorliegenden Arbeit ein starkes Übergewicht gegenüber den anderen beiden Zeitabschnitten aufweist, liegt auch an den zahlreichen Aktivitäten und Produkten dieser Zeit, vor allem aber an der Quellenlage, die für die Zeit zwischen 1890 und 1915 qualitativ und quantitativ wesentlich umfangreicher ist, als beispielsweise für die Zeit nach 1920
This work gives an overview over the cartographic development of Namibia from the beginnings in the early 18th century up to the independence of the country in 1990. At the same time there is also a detailed view to the cartography, the maps and map series possible. Besides the most important developments of the large expeditions, the surveying, the general administration and the organization of the surveying and mapping in the area of today’s Namibia are shown. Additionally also the most important developments of surveying and mapping in the German Empire and in South Africa are presented because of there relevance for some historical and political decisions in relation to the surveying and mapping of Namibia. For the first time this work presents a comprehensive documentation about the cartography and the map-products of Namibia. Such a work does not exist for any of the neighbour countries in Southern Africa. The work is structured into three main periods, the Precolonial time up to 1884, the time of the German colony German South West Africa between 1884 and 1915/20 and the time of the South African mandatory power between 1920 and 1990. These periods allow to show in detail the different political and administrative obediences for the map making. But not only the colonial power (Germany, Great Britain, France, Portugal) is responsible for different developments. In comparison especially with other countries of Southern Africa but also with countries all over Africa it could be shown that advances in surveying and mapping also depend on the dimension, the location, the different nature, relief and the climate of an area. In contrast to the mostly slow but continuous development of the surveying methods and the cartographic design in Europe the colonies show steplike changes. This is because of the import of the European methods and instruments into areas with very low infrastructure. The development of the South West African cartography shows three main phases. During the age of discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries but also through special expeditions in the 17th and the beginning 18th centuries the coasts were surveyed and mapped. The exploration and mapping of the inner parts of the country began late (end of 18th century) and slowly. The main reason for this are the large coastal deserts and the large waterless areas that made travelling very difficult and dangerous. The first travellers in South West Africa were missionaries and researchers. Within the next about 100 years the travellers could map an approximate topographic structure of the land. This was more or less satisfactory for an overview and the safe travelling in the country. The third phase began with the European, here German colonisation at the end of the 19th century. This phase began with the search for useful recording and mapping methods. Especially the huge but deserted areas of the colony had to be mapped in an economic arguable but also for the military and the administration usable way. The culmination of this phase was reached only after World War II, in South West Africa even only in the 1970th. At this time the modern recording methods allowed an area-wide and economic surveying and mapping of the whole country. In the same phases one can also see the change-over from maps of the continent via linear maps as results of route-mappings to area-wide topographic map series. As in Europe the surveying and mapping of German South West Africa since 1904 was affected by the military and its techniques and demands. This gave the land an exceptional position in comparison to the other German colonies. Like in the scenic and climatic similar South Africa the military survey section built up a large and area-wide geodetic survey by triangulation since the Herero-War in 1904. On the other hand the cadastral survey was in the hands of the civil administration as it was in the German Empire. But the separation of the duties and responsibilities was not that clear and precise like in Germany because the civil land surveyors were responsible for all works in the colony prior 1904 and did not wanted to give up all charges. The constant questions of authority and the partly lack of acceptance of the works of the other side caused a lot of additional costs and the relatively slow mapping progress. The coordination and organization of the surveying and mapping of the German colony South West Africa shows obvious failings. Even so the mapping of the colony can be evaluated positive. For that time, the possibilities, instruments and methods, for the small number of employees and with the knowledge of the infrastructure and the living conditions the results are quite good. Many beautiful and high quality single maps and maps series of special area and for the whole country are known. This is much more astonishing as none of the neighbour countries could reach such an high standard up to the beginning of World War I. During the time of the South African mandatory power the competences and responsibilities of the surveying and mapping were also not clearly defined. After World War I but up to the 1950th South West Africa had an exceptional position compared to the South African provinces. The surveying office in Windhuk was responsible for all surveyings and mappings in South West Africa. For this the country was partly cutted from the latest methodic and technic developments of the South African Trigsurvey. On the other hand Windhuk could use his independence for own ways. For this the SWA-maps produced in the 1930th were printed in Southampton and not at the South African Government Printer in Pretoria and show a much better printing quality than the South African maps of that time. At the latest with the beginning of the production process of the map series in 1:50 000, 1:250 000 and smaller in the 1960th the mapping process of South West Africa/Namibia was fully controlled and affected by the South African Trigsurvey. Despite a lot of problems there are both for the Precolonial period, for the German and for the South African time a lot of good maps from many different authors and for different objections produced known. An analysis of the geometric accuracy of four maps, made between 1879 and 1980 (Chapter 6) shows additionally the high importance of area-wide triangulations for high quality maps. The reason for the overweight of the German colonial time in this work depends on the one side on the many maps and other cartographic products and activities of that time but on the other side it depends also on the high quantity and quality of resources about surveying and mapping in the German time

This thesis examines West Germany's relationship with Namibia between 1969 and 1990. It investigates West German foreign policy towards Namibia, at the height of the Namibian liberation struggle, against the backdrop of East and West German rivalry. It brings to light that the post-war division of Germany into two separate states significantly impacted both German states' policies towards Namibia. The Federal Republic of Germany's (FRG) changing approach towards the German Democratic Republic (GDR) is analysed in relation to the Federal Republic's shifting attitude towards the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), Namibia's leading national liberation movement. It shows that the political dynamic that drove the normalisation of relations between East and West Germany played a key role in West Germany's move towards supporting SWAPO in the mid-to-late 1970. Furthermore, this thesis demonstrates that the Federal Republic's political landscape was dominated by political division over the issue of SWAPO's role in Namibia's future. This dissertation therefore examines the diverging views among political parties and its wider effects on shaping West Germany's policy towards Namibia. It calls to attention that political discord led to attempts by political factions to influence events in Namibia, independent of the Federal Government, through alternative instruments of foreign policy. Particular attention is also paid to the ideological underpinnings that promoted or hindered interactions and co-operation between East and West Germany in Namibia, on the one hand, and the two German states and SWAPO on the other. It reveals that West Germany's attitude towards SWAPO cannot be separated from the wider realities of the Cold War. In particular, it shows that the normalization of relations between West Germany and SWAPO can only be fully understood against the backdrop of intra-German rivalry.

The rapid post-Independence development of the city of Windhoek, Namibia; and the ensuing destruction of a substantial number of German colonial buildings in the capital city, prompted speculation as to why these buildings are inadequately protected as heritage – and whether they are, in fact, considered to be heritage. The study explores the issues pertaining to the presence of German colonial architecture, as artefacts of the German colonial period, within the postcolonial context of Windhoek. The trauma and pain of the Namibian War and genocide (1904 – 1908) are recurring themes in the body of literature on postcolonial Namibia; and this informs a wider discourse on memory. Memory is found to play a crucial role in evoking a sense of both individual and shared ownership, through its capacity to create meaning, which can in turn ascribe value to a place. Memory is also dependent on visual cues for its continued existence, which suggests the importance of colonial architecture as a material prompt to sustain memory. The research therefore investigates the memories and multiple meanings attributable to colonial architecture in this plural society, and how these meanings can be created, or possibly reinvented, through the continued use of these buildings. The study is based on an assessment of three halls in Windhoek – the Grüner Kranz Hall (1906), the Kaiserkrone Hall (1909), and the Turnhalle (1909; 1912), all designed by the German architect Otto Busch – which illustrates in part, the need for the development of historical building surveys that assess the social values and significances of these contested spaces; and moreover, the potential that these spaces have to support memory work through their continued use.

Bibliography : pages 312-319.
The present study sets out to accomplish two things: first, to demonstrate that space and spatiality is the domain in which discourse partakes of the colonial project, and second, to isolate a number of textual strategies employed in the discursive production of colonial space. The first aim requires a lengthy theoretical discussion which occupies the first part of the study. Here I develop the thesis that spatiality as a philosophical preoccupation has never been divorced from the questions of sigmfication and subjectivity, and that the production of significant and subjective space is always a production of social space. In support of this thesis, it is shown that vision and writing are the two functions in which subjective space becomes meaningful, and that in both cases it becomes meaningful only as social space. It is thus in the context of looking and writing that the production of colonial space may be examined as a social space within which meaning and subjectivity are possible. The second aim requires an analytical study of a number of colorual texts, which I undertake in part II of the study. For simplicity, I have confined myself to the colonial discourse of German South West Africa in the period 1884-1915. The central thesis developed here is that discourse develops strategies for enclosing spaces by demarkating borders, privileging certain passages between spaces and blocking others. This organization of space is presented as the ordering of a chaotic multiplicity and, as such, as a process of civilization. The contradiction between the blocking and privileging of passages results in what I call a "ritual of crossing": an implicit set of rules prescribmg the conditions of possibility for crossing the borders it establishes. As a result, in its production of space, the colonial text assumes a mythical function which allows it to transcend the very spaces it produces. It is here that I attempt to situate colonial discourse's claims to uruversal truth. In conclusion, the detailed analysis of the production of space in colonial discourse may be understood as a strategic intervention. It attempts to use the texts of colonisation to counter colonization's claims to universal truth and a civilizing mission.

Tourism has various effects on society. Not only economic but also immaterial effects on destinations as well as on tourists themselves. Especially regarding tourism between the Global North and South, it is arguable if tourism is a social force influencing societies in a positive way or if it rather reinforces stereotypes and colonial structures. Postcolonial approaches help to narrow down this topic and to complement classical tourism studies. This paper focuses on the situation of German tourists in a former German colony: Namibia. It examines how the tourists perceive themselves within the system of tourism in a postcolonial context, how they perceive the Other and colonial heritage during their trips. Interviews were conducted with eight German tourists who had travelled to Namibia during the last years on their experiences and thoughts to complement existing studies and broaden the picture. The interviews show that stereotypes and notions of white superiority still exist within tourism whilst the sensitivity for history, colonial times and postcolonial structures is rather weak amongst German tourists. At the same time, the tourists wish for more equality and encounters at eye level. It is reinforced that tourism scholarship as well as the tourism industry itself should have postcolonial issues in mind, as well as the non-economic effects of tourism which are in dire need to be considered stronger. The tourists showed that they are ready for a closer engagement with history if colonial heritage is presented and interpreted more intensively. If this interpretation is elaborated in communicative processes respecting all stakeholders, especially the local populations, tourism can not only impact economic development, it can also be a strong social force which ultimately would create a better understanding and experience for both stakeholders, the tourists, and locals respectively.

Die vorliegende Arbeit zeigt einerseits überblicksartig, gleichzeitig aber auch ins Detail gehend, vor allem die kartographische Entwicklung von Namibia von den Anfängen im 18. Jh. bis zur Unabhängigkeit im Jahr 1990. Dabei werden neben der eigentlichen Kartographie auch die wichtigsten damit im Zusammenhang stehenden Entwicklungen der Forschungsreisen, des Vermessungswesens, der allgemeinen Verwaltung des Landes und der Organisation des Karten- und Vermessungswesens im Gebiet des heutigen Namibia, im Deutschen Reich und in Südafrika dargestellt. Diese Ausweitung des Themas erwies sich als notwendig, um die Hintergründe und das geschichtliche und politische Umfeld mancher kartographischen Entwicklung deutlich und verständlich machen zu können. Damit liegt erstmals eine umfassende Dokumentation über die Kartographie von Namibia vor. Die Gliederung der Arbeit in die drei großen Zeitabschnitte der vorkolonialen, der deutschen Kolonial- und der südafrikanischen Mandatszeit ermöglicht die genaue Differenzierung von politischen und verwaltungstechnischen Abhängigkeiten bei der Kartenherstellung. Allerdings muss auch berücksichtigt werden, dass unterschiedliche Entwicklungsstadien nicht nur vom Herrschaftsträger abhängig waren. Der Vergleich zu anderen Kolonien des südlichen und zentralen Afrika, aber auch der weiterreichende Blick auf alle europäischen Afrikakolonien zeigt, dass Fortschritte im jeweiligen Karten- und Vermessungswesen neben der politischen und wirtschaftlichen Wertschätzung der Kolonie und der Macht des Mutterlandes (Deutschland, Portugal, Großbritannien, Frankreich) vor allem auch von der Größe, der Lage, der sehr verschiedenartigen Natur und dem Klima des entsprechenden Gebietes bestimmt wurden. Im Gegensatz zu der relativ langsamen, aber kontinuierlichen Entwicklung der Vermessungsmethoden und der kartographischen Darstellung in Europa sind in den Kolonien eher ruckartige Veränderungen zu verzeichnen, die mit dem Import der europäischen Methoden und Instrumente in infrastrukturell unterentwickelte Gebiete einhergingen. Die Entwicklung afrikanischer und im Besonderen südwestafrikanischer Karten zeigt drei Phasen: Zunächst erfolgte die Aufnahme der Küsten während der Entdeckungsreisen des 15. und 16. Jhs. und durch spezielle Forschungsreisen vor allem im 17. und beginnenden 18. Jh. Die Erforschung und kartographische Darstellung des Landesinnern begann dagegen zögernd erst Ende des 18. und Anfang des 19. Jhs. In SWA ist der Grund dafür vor allem in den schlechten Zugangsmöglichkeiten auf Grund der Wüstengebiete zu suchen. Träger dieser Aufnahmen waren hauptsächlich Missionare und Forschungsreisende. Innerhalb der nächsten 100 Jahre konnte in Südwestafrika ein grobes topographisches Grundwissen aufgebaut werden, das zur Orientierung im Land meist ausreichte. Mit der Eroberung Afrikas durch europäische Kolonialmächte Ende des 19. Jhs. begann die dritte Phase. Diese war in Südwestafrika durch die deutsche Kolonialherrschaft bestimmt und ist vor allem geprägt durch die Suche nach geeigneten Aufnahmemethoden und Darstellungswegen, um die riesigen, teilweise menschenleeren Gegenden in wirtschaftlich verantwortbarer, aber auch militärisch und verwaltungstechnisch nutzbarer Form kartographisch darzustellen. Ihren Höhepunkt erreicht diese Phase jedoch erst nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg, in Südwestafrika sogar erst in den 1970er Jahren mit dem Einsatz moderner Aufnahmetechniken. In gleichen Phasen vollzog sich auch der Übergang von Kontinentkarten über lineare Routenaufnahmen mit stark wechselnden Maßstäben hin zu flächendeckenden topographischen Abbildungen. Mit diesen Veränderungen war auch eine Wandlung des Aussagewertes der Karten verbunden. Wie in Europa war die Kartenherstellung in Südwestafrika seit 1904 vor allem durch das Militär und dessen Bedürfnisse geprägt. Damit besaß das Land gegenüber den anderen deutschen Afrikakolonien eine Sonderstellung. Im Gegensatz zu den anderen deutschen Kolonien, aber in Anlehnung an das landschaftlich und klimatisch vergleichbare Südafrika wurde seit dem Hererokrieg 1904 eine großzügige und möglichst flächendeckende geodätische Vermessung durch Triangulation durchgeführt. Dagegen lagen die Katastervermessung und alle damit in Zusammenhang stehenden Arbeiten wie im Deutschen Reich in den Händen der zivilen Behörden. Allerdings war die Trennung der Aufgaben, bedingt durch die alleinige Zuständigkeit der Zivilverwaltung für alle Vermessungs- und Kartierungsangelegenheiten in Südwestafrika vor 1904, nicht ganz so deutlich wie im Deutschen Reich. Die dadurch bedingten regelmäßigen Kompetenzstreitigkeiten und die mangelnde Anerkennung der Arbeiten der Gegenseite verursachten die Behinderung zügiger Fortschritte in der Kartenherstellung sowie erhebliche zusätzliche Kosten. Die Koordinierung und Organisation der Arbeiten in Südwestafrika während der deutschen Kolonialzeit zeigt deutliche Mängel. Trotzdem kann das kartographisch Erreichte als positiv bewertet werden. Natürlich können aus heutiger Perspektive verschiedene Entscheidungen und Vorgehensweisen kritisiert werden. Für die damalige Zeit, die vorhandenen Mittel, Instrumente und Methoden, die Anzahl des Personals und im Wissen um die infrastrukturellen und Lebensbedingungen sind die erzielten Ergebnisse, ob das die Einzelkarten, räumlich definierte Kartenwerke oder solche des ganzen Landes betrifft, eine große Leistung. Das zeigt sich umso mehr im Vergleich zu den Nachbarstaaten, von denen beim Beginn des Ersten Weltkrieges keines so zahlreiche und gute Kartenmaterialien vorweisen konnte. Aber auch während der südafrikanischen Mandatszeit seit 1920 waren die Kompetenzen und Zuständigkeiten nicht eindeutig geregelt. Zunächst besaß Südwestafrika eine Sonderstellung gegenüber den Provinzen der Südafrikanischen Union, indem das Vermessungsamt in Windhuk für alle Vermessungs- und Kartierungsarbeiten des Landes zuständig war. Damit war das Mandatsgebiet in gewisser Weise aber auch von den methodischen und technischen Fortschritten, vor allem des Trigsurvey, abgekoppelt. Andererseits nutzte man diese Unabhängigkeit in Windhuk für eigene Wege, vor allem beim Druck der Karten in Southampton. Spätestens seit dem Beginn der Herstellung der landesweiten Kartenwerke in den Maßstäben 1:50 000, 1:250 000 und kleiner in den 1960er Jahren wurden die kartographischen Arbeiten dann aber von Südafrika bestimmt und kontrolliert. Trotz dieser Probleme lässt sich sowohl für die deutsche Kolonialzeit als auch für die südafrikanische Mandatszeit eine Vielzahl guter und von unterschiedlichen Autoren stammender Karten als Einzelwerke, als Beilage zu diversen Berichten oder als Kartenwerke feststellen. Flächendeckende Triangulationen stellen daneben eine bedeutende Entwicklung für die lagerichtige Wiedergabe der Topographie auf der Karte dar. Dass die deutsche Kolonialzeit in der vorliegenden Arbeit ein starkes Übergewicht gegenüber den anderen beiden Zeitabschnitten aufweist, liegt auch an den zahlreichen Aktivitäten und Produkten dieser Zeit, vor allem aber an der Quellenlage, die für die Zeit zwischen 1890 und 1915 qualitativ und quantitativ wesentlich umfangreicher ist, als beispielsweise für die Zeit nach 1920.
This work gives an overview over the cartographic development of Namibia from the beginnings in the early 18th century up to the independence of the country in 1990. At the same time there is also a detailed view to the cartography, the maps and map series possible. Besides the most important developments of the large expeditions, the surveying, the general administration and the organization of the surveying and mapping in the area of today’s Namibia are shown. Additionally also the most important developments of surveying and mapping in the German Empire and in South Africa are presented because of there relevance for some historical and political decisions in relation to the surveying and mapping of Namibia. For the first time this work presents a comprehensive documentation about the cartography and the map-products of Namibia. Such a work does not exist for any of the neighbour countries in Southern Africa. The work is structured into three main periods, the Precolonial time up to 1884, the time of the German colony German South West Africa between 1884 and 1915/20 and the time of the South African mandatory power between 1920 and 1990. These periods allow to show in detail the different political and administrative obediences for the map making. But not only the colonial power (Germany, Great Britain, France, Portugal) is responsible for different developments. In comparison especially with other countries of Southern Africa but also with countries all over Africa it could be shown that advances in surveying and mapping also depend on the dimension, the location, the different nature, relief and the climate of an area. In contrast to the mostly slow but continuous development of the surveying methods and the cartographic design in Europe the colonies show steplike changes. This is because of the import of the European methods and instruments into areas with very low infrastructure. The development of the South West African cartography shows three main phases. During the age of discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries but also through special expeditions in the 17th and the beginning 18th centuries the coasts were surveyed and mapped. The exploration and mapping of the inner parts of the country began late (end of 18th century) and slowly. The main reason for this are the large coastal deserts and the large waterless areas that made travelling very difficult and dangerous. The first travellers in South West Africa were missionaries and researchers. Within the next about 100 years the travellers could map an approximate topographic structure of the land. This was more or less satisfactory for an overview and the safe travelling in the country. The third phase began with the European, here German colonisation at the end of the 19th century. This phase began with the search for useful recording and mapping methods. Especially the huge but deserted areas of the colony had to be mapped in an economic arguable but also for the military and the administration usable way. The culmination of this phase was reached only after World War II, in South West Africa even only in the 1970th. At this time the modern recording methods allowed an area-wide and economic surveying and mapping of the whole country. In the same phases one can also see the change-over from maps of the continent via linear maps as results of route-mappings to area-wide topographic map series. As in Europe the surveying and mapping of German South West Africa since 1904 was affected by the military and its techniques and demands. This gave the land an exceptional position in comparison to the other German colonies. Like in the scenic and climatic similar South Africa the military survey section built up a large and area-wide geodetic survey by triangulation since the Herero-War in 1904. On the other hand the cadastral survey was in the hands of the civil administration as it was in the German Empire. But the separation of the duties and responsibilities was not that clear and precise like in Germany because the civil land surveyors were responsible for all works in the colony prior 1904 and did not wanted to give up all charges. The constant questions of authority and the partly lack of acceptance of the works of the other side caused a lot of additional costs and the relatively slow mapping progress. The coordination and organization of the surveying and mapping of the German colony South West Africa shows obvious failings. Even so the mapping of the colony can be evaluated positive. For that time, the possibilities, instruments and methods, for the small number of employees and with the knowledge of the infrastructure and the living conditions the results are quite good. Many beautiful and high quality single maps and maps series of special area and for the whole country are known. This is much more astonishing as none of the neighbour countries could reach such an high standard up to the beginning of World War I. During the time of the South African mandatory power the competences and responsibilities of the surveying and mapping were also not clearly defined. After World War I but up to the 1950th South West Africa had an exceptional position compared to the South African provinces. The surveying office in Windhuk was responsible for all surveyings and mappings in South West Africa. For this the country was partly cutted from the latest methodic and technic developments of the South African Trigsurvey. On the other hand Windhuk could use his independence for own ways. For this the SWA-maps produced in the 1930th were printed in Southampton and not at the South African Government Printer in Pretoria and show a much better printing quality than the South African maps of that time. At the latest with the beginning of the production process of the map series in 1:50 000, 1:250 000 and smaller in the 1960th the mapping process of South West Africa/Namibia was fully controlled and affected by the South African Trigsurvey. Despite a lot of problems there are both for the Precolonial period, for the German and for the South African time a lot of good maps from many different authors and for different objections produced known. An analysis of the geometric accuracy of four maps, made between 1879 and 1980 (Chapter 6) shows additionally the high importance of area-wide triangulations for high quality maps. The reason for the overweight of the German colonial time in this work depends on the one side on the many maps and other cartographic products and activities of that time but on the other side it depends also on the high quantity and quality of resources about surveying and mapping in the German time.

Le mouvement de germanophones vers l’Atlantique Sud n’a pas commencé avec les Nazis cherchant refuge dans l’après-guerre, ni avec la mise en place d’un protectorat allemand au Sud-Ouest africain en 1884. Tout au long du XIXe siècle, la grande majorité des germanophones ayant quitté l’Europe a voyagé et migré en Amérique du Nord, mais un certain nombre de germanophones avaient choisi l’Argentine et la Namibie bien avant le tournant du XIXe siècle. Des marchands et missionnaires germanophones avaient commencé à voyager dans l’Atlantique Sud et à s’y installer dans les années 1820s. Ces germanophones de l’Atlantique Sud étaient influencés par les conditions changeantes en Europe : la mobilité accrue des personnes et des biens au travers de l’évolution technologique et de la dominance croissante d’Etats-nations sur la scène politique de l’Europe occidentale. Après sa fondation en 1871, l’Etat-nation allemand étendît son influence politique avec ses croissantes aspirations au pouvoir sur le marché global. Après 1900 en particulier, les Allemands politiquement actifs ont cherché à contrer la compétition croissante des Etats-Unis sur le plan économique ; en tentant de rediriger les migrants germanophones des Etats-Unis vers les territoires qu’ils considéraient plus aptes pour l’aide et le contrôle continu de la part de l’Etat-nation allemand. Dans ce contexte, la majorité des Allemands reconnaissaient le Sud-Ouest africain allemand en tant que seul territoire à la hauteur de la colonisation allemande à grande échelle. Au même moment, les germanophones en Argentine devenaient actifs en promouvant l’Argentine comme destination idéale pour la migration germanophone, et un grand nombre de publications le louaient en tant que « pays d’avenir ». Les publications sur les Allemands aux Etats-Unis et au Canada sont nombreuses, mais les germanophones ayant choisi l’Atlantique Sud ont reçu moins d’attention. Parmi cette littérature secondaire, les Allemands en Argentine étaient traités comme des migrants étrangers à la République, tandis que les Allemands en Namibie ont été tout d’abord étudiés par rapport au colonialisme allemand. J’argumente que c’est les historiens qui ont crée cette division qui accentue davantage les différences entre les trajectoires historiquement rendues, et qui cachent les connections et similarités qui étaient évidentes aux migrants germanophones du XIXe siècle. Je me propose d’étudier ces germanophones dans un seul champ analytique. J’argumente que malgré les différences des circonstances politiques respectives, les expériences du quotidien des germanophones de ces deux côtés de l’Atlantique Sud étaient plus similaires que différentes. J’analyse les publications et les pensées des contemporains du XIXe siècle afin de surmonter la dichotomie crée par les historiens en tant que genres de mouvement mondiaux distincts et mutuellement exclusifs. Ce qui s’est passé dans l’Atlantique Sud peut être appelé « colonisation transnationale » : des Etats-nations émergents étaient impliqués dans le processus de colonisation –l’Argentine en Amérique du Sud et l’Allemagne dans le Sud-Ouest africain – et des fonctionnaires aidaient à accroitre leur expansion. Cependant, au sein de ces Etats, les personnes qui maintenaient une variété d’identités et d’origines européennes, étaient des agents actifs dans le processus de colonisation. Mes sources primaires comprennent des textes produits par les migrants de courte et longue durée, comme les récits de voyage, ainsi que les archives des communautés et gouvernements actuellement situés en Allemagne, en Argentine et en Namibie
The movement of German-speakers to the South Atlantic did not begin with Nazis seeking refuge in Argentina in the aftermath of World War II, nor did it start with the organization of the German protectorate of South-West Africa in 1884. Throughout the nineteenth century, the great majority of German-speakers leaving Europe travelled and migrated to North America, but some German-speakers had begun settling in both Argentina and Namibia well before the turn of the twentieth century. German-speaking merchants and missionaries started travelling to and settling in the South Atlantic in the 1820s. These South Atlantic German-speakers were influenced by the changing conditions in Europe: the increasing mobility of people and goods through the advancement of technology, and the increasing dominance of Nation-states on Western Europe’s political scene. After its founding in 1871, the German nation-state expanded its political reach with the German Empire’s increasing desire for power on the global market. After 1900 in particular, politically active Germans sought to compete against the increasing economic competition from the United States by attempting to redirect German-speaking migrants from their U.S. rival to areas they deemed more apt for continued German state aid and control. In this context, many Germans recognized German South-West Africa as the only territory suitable for large-scale German settlement. Meanwhile, German-speakers in Argentina became involved in marketing Argentina as the ideal destination for German-speaking migration and numerous publications praised it as the “land of the future.”German-speaking migration to the United States and Canada is well documented, whereas scholars have paid less attention to those migrants who went to Argentina and Namibia. Within the existing secondary literature, scholars have treated German-speakers in Argentina mostly as foreign migrants in an established republic, while conversely studying German-speakers in Namibia primarily within the context of German colonialism. I argue that it is historians who have created this division which overemphasizes the differences between the continents’ historically rendered trajectories, while hiding the connections and similarities from the viewpoint of nineteenth-century German-speaking migrants. I propose to study the everyday life experiences of nineteenth-century German-speakers on both sides of the South Atlantic within one single analytical field. I argue that even though the respective political circumstances varied, the everyday life experiences of these German-speakers on both sides of the South Atlantic were more similar than different. I analyze the writings and belief-systems of nineteenth-century contemporaries in order to overcome the dichotomy that historians have created as distinct and mutually exclusive types of global movement. What happened in the South Atlantic was “transnational colonization:” emerging nation-states were involved in the colonization process – Argentina in South America and Germany in Namibia – and civil servants helped further their growth. However, within these states, people who maintained a variety of European identities and origins, were active agents in the colonization process. My sources include texts produced by short- and long-term migrants, such as travel writings as well as community and government records currently held in archives in Germany, Argentina and Namibia

The German place nomenclature in South west Africa, under the influence of various toponymic and linguistic factors, spontaneously developed into a unique toponymicon. The specific nature of this toponymicon is marked by a large number of inherited name transfers from Europe on the one hand and a partially or fully germanized local toponymicon with numerous examples of translations, adopted loan names and substitutions on the other hand. This unique toponymicon mainly originated from the inter linguistic interaction between German, Afrikaans and the indigenous languages of the territory. The supposition on which the theoretical concept and research method was formulated and executed, is the dichotomous nature of the place names as onomastic and linguistic signs. The German place names have certain general, but also intrinsic toponymic and linguistic features in common. This prompted the diachronic and synchronic analysis of the place names on both linguistic and onomastic levels. The onomastic approach entailed the analysis of the structural composition of the place names; the toponymic motives; the interlinguistic contact situation; the origins, etymologies and semantic aspects of the names. On the linguistic level the names were analyzed according to syntagmatic and paradigmatic criteria and categorized according to linguistic principles pertaining to proper nouns, specifically toponyms or place names. The conclusion was reached that the German South West African toponymicon, despite the large number of name transfers that occurred and the close resemblance with its European origins which is still clearly discernible, appears on the formal and functional level as a unique, yet true Southern African toponymicon .
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1986.

This dissertation charts a spatial, architectural, and landscape history of German settlement colonialism (Siedlungskolonialismus) in the Prussian Polish Provinces and German South West Africa, between 1884 and 1918. It situates this study from the framework of Germany’s late nineteenth century project of internal colonization (innere Kolonisation), which forms an almost exact temporal parallel with Germany’s external colonial interventions and can be seen as an indispensable part of its broader apparatus, which points to new connections within its entangled fields of operation. Following several generations of German architects, planners, social scientists, and settlement practitioners (Ansiedlungspraktiker) working at the borders of empire, this dissertation asks how the colonial question of land shaped modern planning discourse at the turn of the century. Broadly speaking, I look at how state control over the freedom of movement, colonial land reclamation, and the resistance these interventions encountered contoured modernism’s politics of land. This study illustrates how the languages of German architectural and planning modernism were marked by asymmetric and discordant processes of colonial spatialization—a multivalent transfiguration of the landscape in which the local, indigenous, and pre-colonial populations played a central, if often unacknowledged, role. This project seeks in turn to read that resistance, as interlocutor, back into the history of German colonial intervention in the two regions under discussion in this study. Finally, I argue that placing these episodes together within the same discursive framework, tracing the spatiality and aesthetics of German imperial expansion from the analytic of settlement, opens up a new set of questions regarding the role of enclosure and its epistemologies in architectural modernism. This brings the often-sidelined issue of agrarian modernity and the disciplining of the landscape (in the Foucauldian sense), to bear on modern architectural histories.

This dissertation studies the First World War South African campaign in German South West Africa from 1914 until 1915. The campaign was characterised by the high mobility of the Union’s mounted soldiers which enabled swift advances and rapid envelopments. The German forces applied a defensive strategy relying on the lack of water and remoteness of the terrain to deter and prolong the Union’s invasion. The German force also relied on internal lines of communication to concentrate its forces on the Union’s advancing columns. The Union Defence Forces’s numbered approximately 50 000 compared to the German force of about 7 000. The campaign culminated on 9 July 1915 with the surrender of almost the entire German fighting force intact. This study analyses whether the victory can be attributed to the Union Defence Forces’s numerical superiority or the operational strategy and tactics which were applied during the campaign. It is argued that this operational strategy is congruent with the modern theory of manoeuvre warfare and that the campaign is therefore a textbook example of manoeuvre warfare theory
History
M.A. (History)