Historical Buildings in Post Street, Swakopmund
Eight Tourist Attractions of Namibia All Hosted in One Street
Jul 10, 2009
With more than 30 buildings worth visiting, tourists to Swakopmund in Namibia, must expect to walk the streets of the popular vacation town often. Stately buildings capture the German – colonial atmosphere, many of which date back to the beginning of the 1900's. Post Street in Swakopmund plays host to at least eight of these buildings, while the others are mostly one or two blocks away.
Ludwig Schröder House in Swakopmund
Situated on the corner of Post and Molkte Streets in Swakopmund, the Woermann Shipping Line built the Ludwig Schröder House in 1903 to accommodate their expanding business. The house was later named after Ludwig Schröder, born on 29 September 1897 at Wiesbaden in Germany and an auditor and director of companies. He also served as Mayor of Swakopmund and vice-chairperson of the Chamber of Commerce Swakopmund.
Post Office Building in Swakopmund
In Post Street, between Moltke and Roon Street, the beautiful symmetrical building used to host the post office and telephone exchange. The post office opened to the public on 1 April 1907 with the entrance in the middle of the building. For 60 years, the building served as post office until 1967, after which it was used as municipal offices.
Antonius Gebaude or Franciscan Hospital
Otto Erle designed the Antonius Gebaude, which was used as a Franciscan hospital from 1908 to 1987 and was initially known as the St Antonius Gebaude Hospital. This Catholic hospital was staffed by sisters of the Franciscan order and was continuously in operation for almost 80 years. Tourist will find the building in Post Street between Roon and Brelte Streets.
Litfass-Saulen Columns or Advertising Pillars
These cylindrical columns were originally designed by Ernst Amandus Theodor Litfass, a German painter and publisher and were first taken into use on 1 July 1855 in Berlin. The use of these columns to affix advertisements, spread to other countries in the world. Later these columns were electrified and equipped with a door to store street cleaning equipment inside.
In about 1905, the first advertising pillar was introduced to Swakopmund, and currently the one on the corner of Post and Brelte Streets are the only one remaining in Swakopmund according to Willie and Sandra Olivier, The African Adventurer's Guide to Namibia, Struik Publishers, 2003.
Old Residence, Dr. Schwietering House and German Government and School Building
In Post Street, between Otavi and Brelte Streets, tourists to Swakopmund will find the old residence building on the northern side of the street. Next to the old residence, another interesting building is the Dr. Schwietering House, which was used for several years as consulting rooms. Besides the interesting architecture, it is worth noting that both these buildings date back to 1910.
Opposite the Deutsche Evangelical Lutheran Church, buildings used to accommodate the German Government and the municipal secondary schools compliment the baroque style of the church. These buildings were completed in 1913 and were designed by Emil Krause, a budding German architect who won the competition to design the best building in 1912.
Several other buildings in Swakopmund are worth visiting and tourists to Namibia should put aside a couple of hours to explore the wonderful German architecture the town has to offer. Other tourist attractions in Swakopmund includes the aquarium, the jetty and the Martin Luther tractor.
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