Keetmanshoop

Accommodation | Activities | Restaurants | Business Directory

Geography and History

Keetmanshoop is a town in the South of Namibia in the Karas Region, lying on the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa. The town is situated near two quiver tree forests, and a major tourist attraction of Namibia. The main centre and focal point of the scenic and historic attractions in the south is Keetmanshoop.

Founded in 1860 by the Rhenish Mission Society, the town still retains vestiges of its original German buildings, as well as several dating back to the arrival of the first Europeans, who trekked across the Orange River to trade, hunt and explore the land. The first of these expeditions was in 1791. It was led by Hendrik Hop, who trekked as far as Hainabis on the Löwen River, about 12 km from the Keetmanshoop of today.

Attractions

Eagle’s Monument, built between 1897–1907 in remembrance of the casualties in the battles fought between the Bondelswarts and the Namas, was declared a National Monument in 1966 and can be viewed in the Garden of Remembrance.

A former officer’s barracks built in German colonial times, the Turnverein Gut Heil, has been converted into tourist accommodation. Much of the German architectural style was retained, as well as unexpected Jewish- motifs in the shape of the Star of David, lending an interesting detail to the tall windows of Schützenhaus. The previous owner transferred the windows to the house when the old Jewish Synagogue in Keetmanshoop was demolished.

The Southern Tourism Forum (STF) operates from an information office in the centre of Keetmanshoop. The building in which it is housed was inaugurated in 1910 as the Kaiserliches Postamt (Imperial Post Office) and is a national monument. The STF is actively engaged in the annual Dorsland Trek/Fish River Canyon awareness project, which entails collecting refuse left by hikers on the trail

Other highlights in the region include self-drive visits to the Naute Dam and the farm Spitskop Ost with its mesosaurus fossils, the Giant's Playground, Fish River Canyon and the Kokerboom (Quiver Tree) Forest.