Namibia
A country assembled from the oldest desert on earth, the people who have lived along it, and three occupations. Rock engravings at Twyfelfontein, Ovaherero cattle and Ovambo kingdoms, Nama polities and San hunter-gatherer societies. Then German South West Africa, the mission stations, and the war of extermination waged against the Ovaherero and Nama between 1904 and 1908. South African rule from 1915, apartheid extended northward, the contract labour system and the strike that broke it. SWAPO, the liberation war, and independence on 21 March 1990. The diamonds at Kolmanskop and the uranium after them, the fishing fleet, the conservancies, and Windhoek. The archive is built from what is freely licensed, and that record is uneven in a way worth naming: the occupying forces are extensively photographed and the liberation movement is barely present. Where a claim is contested it is attributed to whoever made it.
A chronological documentary of 3,634 moments spanning -1000–2026 on Loreline.
Curated by Olivier · last updated 2026-09-20
Eras
- Rock Art, Engravings and paintings across the escarpment, including Twyfelfontein, inscribed by UNESCO in 2007, and the Apollo 11 Cave stones, among the oldest figurative art known from Africa.
- Namib, The desert the country is named for, reckoned among the oldest on earth, and the fog coast, dunes and gravel plains that run from the Orange River to Angola.
- Towns, Swakopmund, Lüderitz, Walvis Bay, Keetmanshoop, Oshakati, Rundu and the settlements between.
- Windhoek, The capital: the Alte Feste and the Christuskirche, Katutura, the Independence Memorial Museum, and the monuments the city has argued over.
- Kingdoms, Ovambo kingdoms, Nama and Oorlam polities, and the trade routes that crossed them before the colony. The free photographic record of precolonial authority is very thin.
- Fishing, The Benguela current, the fleet at Walvis Bay and Lüderitz, and the processing that grew around them.
- Colony, German South West Africa from 1884: Windhoek, Swakopmund and Lüderitz, the farms and the Schutztruppe posts, and the colonial memory later built around them. Several monuments here commemorate the German colonial dead and are captioned as such.
- Missions, Rhenish, Finnish and Catholic mission stations, among them Olukonda in Ovamboland where Martin Rautanen worked, and the churches that still stand at Lüderitz, Karibib and Okahandja.
- Constitution, The constitution of 1990, the state it created, and the presidencies since: Sam Nujoma, Hifikepunye Pohamba, Hage Geingob who died in office in February 2024, Nangolo Mbumba, and Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, inaugurated in March 2025 as Namibia's first woman president.
- Schutztruppe, The German colonial force, its garrisons, patrols and camel corps, and the officers who commanded it.
- Peoples, Ovambo, Kavango, Ovaherero and Ovahimba, Damara, Nama, San, Rehoboth Basters, Tswana and the peoples of the Zambezi Region, alongside Afrikaner and German communities. Names here are the ones peoples use for themselves.
- Mandate, South African rule from 1915 under a League of Nations mandate and after it, the long dispute at the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, and the South African Defence Force material that documents the occupying army.
- Dress, Ovaherero dress adapted from Victorian mourning clothes, Ovahimba otjize and hairstyle, beadwork, and what dress records about history.
- Genocide, The war of extermination against the Ovaherero and Nama, 1904 to 1908. Lothar von Trotha issued the Vernichtungsbefehl on 2 October 1904; survivors were driven into the Omaheke and held in camps. Casualty estimates are commonly given as roughly eighty per cent of the Ovaherero and half the Nama, and are cited here to their sources rather than settled. Germany formally recognised the events as genocide in 2015 and again in the 2021 joint declaration, which offered 1.1 billion euros over thirty years as development aid and ex gratia payments while rejecting legal responsibility. Ovaherero and Nama representatives have disputed both the sum and whether they were consulted.
- Conservancies, Community conservancies, the wildlife held on communal land, and the arrangements that let residents manage and profit from it.
- Shark Island, The camp at Lüderitz where Ovaherero and Nama prisoners were held and worked. No photograph of the camp survives in freely licensed sources; what exists is the site as it is now.
- Diamonds, The 1908 find in the Sperrgebiet, the closed diamond area, and the industry that followed.
- Apartheid, Apartheid extended north: the Odendaal plan and the homelands, the removal from the Old Location in 1959, and Katutura. The Commons record of the homelands is flag graphics and a map, with no photographs.
- SWAPO, The South West Africa People's Organisation as a movement and later a governing party, its exile diplomacy and its leaders.
- Documentation, Films, lectures, reporting and oral history about Namibia and its past.
- War, The liberation war from 1966 and the United Nations transition that ended it. Freely licensed photography of this war is scarce in a way the archive cannot correct: the category for the People's Liberation Army of Namibia holds three files, all scanned from a declassified American intelligence report. No category exists for the 1978 raid on Cassinga, and the only genuine result is a depiction displayed at the Namibian Independence Museum. Omugulugwombashe, where the armed struggle began on 26 August 1966, has none at all. Freedom Park in Pretoria alone carries 217. Both events are extensively documented in written history and testimony; what is missing is openly licensed photography.
- Independence, Resolution 435, the 1989 elections under UNTAG, and independence on 21 March 1990.
- Cattle, Herding as economy and as standing, the Ovaherero cattle complex, and the grazing that shaped where people could live.
- Language, Oshiwambo, Otjiherero, Khoekhoegowab and its clicks, Afrikaans, German and English, and the signage that shows which is used where.
- Mining, Uranium at Rössing and Husab, base metals, and the mines that carry much of the economy.
- Etosha, The pan and the park around it, the waterholes and the game that concentrates on them.
- Land, Land reform, resettlement, the Flexible Land Tenure System, and the questions independence left open.
- Kolmanskop, The diamond town in the dunes, built fast and abandoned, its German-era houses now filling with sand.
- Music, Oshiwambo and Damara traditions, church music, kwaito and the present scene.
- Labour, The contract labour system that moved men south to the mines and farms, and the general strike of 1971 and 1972 that broke it.
- - Twyfelfontein 1 (SqueakyMarmot). Rock Painting Twyfelfontein.
- - Lion Twyfelfontein Namibia. Lion Petroglyph, Twyfelfontein, Namibia.
- - Twyfelfontein flip666. Rock engravings at Twyfelfontein, Twyfelfontein.
- - Rock painting in Twyfelfontein2. Rock painting in Twyfelfontain, Namibia.
- - Felszeichnungen von Twyfelfontein1. Felszeichnungen von Twyfelfontein, Namibia.
- - Twyfelfontein-Gravure rupestre-Empreinte humaine. Gravure rupestre (empreinte humaine) à Twyfelfontein (Namibie).
- - Petroglyphes de Twyfelfontein 01. Twyfelfontein possède une concentration de gravures sur roche parmi les plus riche d’Afrique, datée de la fin de l’âge de pierre. Ces représentations témoigne des pratiques de ces peuples de chasseur-cueilleurs.
- - Twyfelfontein-Gravures rupestres (10). Gravures rupestres à Twyfelfontein (Namibie).
- - Rock painting in Twyfelfontein1. Rock painting in Twyfelfontein, Namibia.
- - Dancing Kudu1. 'Dancing Kudu', petroglyph in Twyfelfontein, Namibia.
- - Dancing Kudu Twyfelfontein Namibia. "Dancing Kudu" Petroglyph, Twyfelfontein, Namibia.
- - San - Khoekhoen rock art - Namibia. San (the 'dancing' Kudu) and Khoekhoen (the abstract figures) art at Twyfelfontein, Namibia.
- - Kunene Region, Namibia. Petroglyphs at Twyfelfontein, Kunene Region, Namibia.
- - Twyfelfontein (2006) 08. Twyfelfontein petroglyphs: antelope, ostrich and elephant. Kunene, Namibia.
- - Felszeichnungen von Twyfelfontein3. Felszeichnungen von Twyfelfontein, Namibia, „Löwenplatte“ ( Petroglyph ).
- - 1999-08-03 009 (Twyfelfontein). Grabados San de Twyfelfontein (Damaraland, Namibia).
- - Namib sand in Kolmanskop hospital 1609-0914. Hospital corridor covered with Namib sand in ghost town Kolmanskop, Namibia.
- - Plan of Angra-Pequena on the coast of Angola - btv1b8595632c. Sujet: Lüderitz, Baie de Appartient à l’ensemble documentaire: AnvilAf Couverture: Namibie Langue: anglais Éditeur: by A. Dalrymple.
- - Anthia omoplata Lequien, 1832 (2). Familie: Carabidae Grösse: 35 mm Fundort: Namibia, Windhoek leg. U.Schmidt, 1994; det. W.Lorenz Foto: U.Schmidt, 2006.
- - Lake Ngami-p174a. Pipe (Ovambo); illustration from p.174 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Lake Ngami-p174b. Dagger and Sheath (Ovambo); illustration from p.174 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Lake Ngami-p174c. Hatchet (Ovambo); illustration from p.174 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Lake Ngami-p191. Interview with King Nangoro; illustration from p.191 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Lake Ngami-p193a. Beer-cup and beer-spoon (Ovambo); illustration from p.193 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Lake Ngami-p193b. Guitar-like instrument (Ovambo); illustration from p.193 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Lake Ngami-p195. Ovambo people; illustration from p.195 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Lake Ngami-p197. Meat-dish (Ovambo); illustration from p.197 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Lake Ngami-p200. Dwelling-house and Corn-stores; illustration from p.200 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Lake Ngami-p201. View in Ondonga; illustration from p.201 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Lake Ngami-p203. Blacksmiths at work (Ovambo); illustration from p.203 of the 1861 book Lake Ngami.
- - Africa (1878). Identifier: africa00johnrich ( find matches ) Title: Africa Year: 1878 ( 1870s ) Authors: Johnston, Alexander Keith, 1804-1871 Keane, A. H. (Augustus Henry), 1833-1912 Subjects: Africa -- Description and travel Africa -- Social life and customs Publisher: London: Edward Stanford Contributing Library: University of California Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: MSN View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: Hi,! i- s; w i Text Appearing After Image: XAMAQUA AND DAMARA LAND. 445 guano. Ichaboe and Possession Islands, between 26° and27° S. lat., formerly had guano in large quantities, and afew years ago three or four hundred vessels might havebeen seen anchored off these, working and carrying offthe deposits. Now, however, these are nearly exhausted.At Angra Pequena Bay, between these islands, cattle wereprocured to supply the workers, and a good cattle-track, Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability, coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
- - SMS HABICHT der Kaiserlichen Marine Kanonenboot Baujahr 1879 Typschiff der gleichnamigen Klasse Bis zur Außerdienststellung 1906 ununterbrochen im Auslandsdienst 1904 eingesetzt im Aufstand der Herero und Nama Verschrottet. Gunboat SMS HABICHT of the Imperial German Navy. launched 1879. Until 1906 in the foreign and colonial service in Africa and the South Sea. In 1904 a landing party fought against the Hereros in the Herero and Nama uprising in German Southwest Africa. 1906 out of sevice and wrecked.
- - Eglise rhénane1880 de Walvis Bay. Old Rhenish Mission Church of Walvis Bay.
- - Antique views of ye towne of Boston (1882). Identifier: antiqueviewsofye00star_0 ( find matches ) Title: Antique views of ye towne of Boston Year: 1882 ( 1880s ) Authors: Stark, James Henry Subjects: Dwellings Historic buildings Publisher: Boston: Published by ye Photo-electrotype engraving co.... Contributing Library: Boston Public Library Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Public Library View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: rly on Beacon Hill. The gilt eagle which perched upon thetop of the column has found a place over the Speakers chair, in the Hall of Representatives. A bust of Samuel Adams is fixed toa niche in the wall; and the alcove in which stands the ChantreyBtatue is Hanked by two brass cannon consecrated to the valor ofIsaac Davis and John Butterick, two heroes of the battle of Lex-ington. On the 26th of August, 1*24. Lafayette received the citizens ofBoston in the lower hall: and on the next day a second receptionwas given by the distinguished Frenchman. No greater crowdever thronged to do homage to any visitor in the halls of the Cap-itol. On tin- occasion the national standard was unfurled for thefirsl time from its cupola. On the occasion of Lafayettes second visit to Boston, in ls2.).to assist at the laving of the corner stone of Bunker Hill Monu-ment, he was received by both houses in joint convention in theHall of Representatives, Ex-Governor Lincoln delivering the ad-dress of welcome. Text Appearing After Image: ' Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability, coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
- - Antique views of ye towne of Boston (1882). Identifier: antiqueviewsofye00star_0 ( find matches ) Title: Antique views of ye towne of Boston Year: 1882 ( 1880s ) Authors: Stark, James Henry Subjects: Dwellings Historic buildings Publisher: Boston: Published by ye Photo-electrotype engraving co.... Contributing Library: Boston Public Library Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Public Library View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: ' Text Appearing After Image: ANTIQUE VIEWS OF BOSTON. 93franklins birth place. The quaint looking structure here presented as the birth placeof Bostons most distinguished citizen Benjamin Franklin,wasreproduced by the Photo-Electrotype Engraving process, from anengraving in Shaws History of Boston. It stood on the site ofthe Boston Daily Post building, on Milk.Street, until destroyed bytire on December 29, 1810, shortly after a drawing had been se-cured. Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability, coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
- - Contract Frederiks-Vogelsang 1883 p1. Contract between Josef David Frederiks (Nama-Captain of Bethanien) and Heinrich Vogelsang (Agent of Adolf Lüderitz), 25 August 1883.
- - Die Gartenlaube (1884) b 667. Caption: "Kartenskizze des deutschen Besitzes in Südafrika. --- Seite:Die Gartenlaube (1884) 667.jpg ".
- - Die Gartenlaube (1885) b 379. Caption: " Die Walfischbai. Nach einer Originalskizze von Dr. Pechuel-Loesche.".
- - Deutsche kolonien 1885 ausschnitt lüderitzland. Lüderitzland in early German South-West Africa.
- - Meyers b1 s0581 b1. * links: Angra Pequena-Bai (1: 250.000) rechts: Lüderitzland (1: 5.000.000) als Größenvergleich die Rheinpfalz.
- - 95 of 'Possedimenti e protettorati Europei in Africa, 1889. Raccolta di notizie ... sulle regioni costiere africane Corredato di ... disegni'. View this map on the BL Georeferencer service. Image taken from: Title: "Possedimenti e protettorati Europei in Africa, 1889. Raccolta di notizie... sulle regioni costiere africane Corredato di... disegni" Author: ITALY Shelfmark: "British Library HMNTS 10096.g.11." Page: 95 Place of Publishing: Roma Date of Publishing: 1889 Issuance: monographic Identifier: Explore: Find this item in the British Library catalogue, 'Explore'. Download the PDF for this book (volume: 0) Image found on book scan 95 (NB not necessarily a page number) Download the OCR-derived text for this volume: (plain text) or (json) Click here to see all the illustrations in this book and click here to browse other illustrations published in books in the same year. Order a higher quality version from here.
- - Image taken from page 45 of 'Die deutschen Kolonieen. Beschreibung von Land und Leuten ... Mit ... Karten ... Abbildungen, etc'. View this map on the BL Georeferencer service. Image taken from: Title: "Die deutschen Kolonieen. Beschreibung von Land und Leuten... Mit... Karten... Abbildungen, etc" Author: HESSLER, Carl. Shelfmark: "British Library HMNTS 10024.e.16." Page: 45 Place of Publishing: Metz Date of Publishing: 1889 Issuance: monographic Identifier: Explore: Find this item in the British Library catalogue, 'Explore'. Download the PDF for this book (volume: 0) Image found on book scan 45 (NB not necessarily a page number) Download the OCR-derived text for this volume: (plain text) or (json) Click here to see all the illustrations in this book and click here to browse other illustrations published in books in the same year. Order a higher quality version from here.
- - Die ehemaligen kaiserlich Deutschen Schutztruppen Verlag Moritz Ruhl Leipzig 2 Sudwestafrika 3 Ostafrika Uniformen German Empire African colonies uniforms protection forces late 1890s Leporello booklet colour illustations. Drawings of the typical uniforms of the Schutztruppen (protection force) for the former German colonies German South West Africa ( Südwestafrika ) and German East Africa ( Ostafrika ). Colour plates from the leporello booklet Die ehemaligen kaiserlich Deutschen Schutztruppen published by Verlag von Moritz Ruhl in Leipzig, Germany in the late 1890s. See all plates at www.germancolonialuniforms.co.uk.
- - Witbooi-Journal-1-118. Letter Journal No. 1 of Hendrik Witbooi, pages 118-119.
- - Hendrik Witbooi, the most influential Nama chief in South-West Africa. Nama-Kaptein Hendrick Wittbooi. Unlike the retouched colored version, the armband in imperial colors indicates his allied status.
- - DEUTSCHE SCHUTZTRUPPE FUR SÜDWEST-AFRIKA (Moritz Ruhl 1894) 0 4 Uniformentafeln im lithographischem Farbdruck. Imperial Military Troops for German South West Africa. Uniforms insignia. Public domain. Die deutsche Schutztruppe für Südwest-Afrika, the uniforms and insignia of the German Imperial Colonial Troops in South West Africa, published by Verlag Moritz Ruhl i Leipzig, Germany 1894: 4 uniform plates in lithographic color printing See full description in the book/publication in the online collections of the Hochschul- und Landesbibliothek Fulda The Imperial Schutztruppe for German South West Africa (German: Kaiserliche Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was the official name of the military formation that maintained the German Empire in its colony of German South West Africa. The Schutztruppe are held responsible for numerous atrocities in the Herero and Nama uprising in 1904. During the First World War, the Schutztruppe was defeated by the troops of the Union of South Africa.
- - Kapitän Hendrik Wittboi mit seinem Stabe (retuschiert). Nama, Chief Hendrik Witbooi (center) and his companions.
- - Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi (Portrait). Porträt von Hendrik Witbooi.
- - DEUTSCHE SCHUTZTRUPPE FUR SÜDWEST-AFRIKA (Moritz Ruhl 1894) 1 UNIFORMEN Offiziere Soldat Trompeter Unteroffizier. Imperial Military Troops for German South West Africa. Uniforms. Public domain 2. Die deutsche Schutztruppe für Südwest-Afrika, the uniforms and insignia of the German Imperial Colonial Troops in South West Africa, published by Verlag Moritz Ruhl i Leipzig, Germany 1894: 1: Uniforms, Officers, soldier, trumpeter, corporal Officers in greatcoat, parade suit, drill suit, field suit; Soldier in field suit; Trumpeter in corduroy field suit; non-commissioned officer in drill suit See full description in the book/publication in the online collections of the Hochschul- und Landesbibliothek Fulda The Imperial Schutztruppe for German South West Africa (German: Kaiserliche Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was the official name of the military formation that maintained the German Empire in its colony of German South West Africa. The Schutztruppe are held responsible for numerous atrocities in the Herero and Nama uprising in 1904. During the First World War, the Schutztruppe was defeated by the troops of the Union of South Africa.
- - Kaptein Hendrik Witbooi. Hendrik Witbooi mit Familienangehörigen.
…and 3,584 more moments.
Full text archive: /loreline-text/namibia.md
