Okahandja Namibia
All the information and services you need for Okahandja are on this group of
OKAHANDJA NAMIBIA. All the information and services you need for Okahandja are on this group of sites
Okahandja is a small town situated 75 km north of Windhoek . It is here that the B1 main north road has a junction with the B2 main road to Swakopmund and the coast. Originally settled by the Herero people, it remains the centre for the Herero, and is the traditional burial place for their Chiefs.
The name is Okahandja taken from the Herero language and means, "the place where two rivers converge to form a larger one". The two rivers, the Okakango and Okamita, are quite small, normally dry and, in the rainy season, drain into the Okahandja River.
The missionary Johann H. Schmelen visited here in 1827 and noted with interest the amount of souls that could be converted, but it wasn't until after 1840 when the London Missionary Society had transferred its right to the Rhenish Missionary Society at Otjikango (Gross Barmen) that Karl Hugo Hahn and Franz H. Kleinschmidt brought Schmelen's Dream to fruition when they established a Mission at Okahandja in 1844, which they appropriately named Schmelen's Hope .
During August 1850, while the British explorer Francis Galton was staying with the Hahn family
at Otjikango, the Nama Warlord Jonker Afrikaner, who was based in Windhoek attacked the Hereros of Okahandja and slaughtered many of them. Legend has it that many of the Herero
sort, without success, to seek refuge and defend themselves on a rocky outcrop, but were slaughtered and their cattle taken as booty. As you drive along the B1 by-pass, you can see the hill to your east. It's known locally as ' Moordkoppie ' or Murder Hill.
The Germans recognized the importance of the town and built one of the first of their fortresses in Namibia here, (which no longer exists). It was from Okahandja that the Herero Uprising began on 11 August 1904, and the town was under siege for some days and was only relieved by Major Victor Franke and his 2nd Field Company on 27 January, which just happened to be the Kaiser's birthday.
Presently, the town is a centre for the surrounding cattle and game farms, and has a growing industrial area to the north of town including one of the largest abattoirs in Namibia
Near to Okahandja is the S. von Bach Dam and Nature Resort . Camping, water ski-ing. It all happens here. There are a couple of local ski-clubs, so be sure to contact them if you want to make new and helpful acquaintances. For the anglers the dam is stocked with blue-carper, small mouthed yellow-fish, carp, barbers and large mouthed bass.
Being the centre of the Herero culture it is at Okahandja where the chiefs are laid to rest and remembered every 23 August, a date referred to as Herero Day . The tribal chiefs visit the graves of their ancestors and pay due homage.
Okahandja Local Area Attractions
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