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Heroes' Acre (Namibia)

Coordinates : 22°39′50″S 17°04′42″E  /  22.6638°S 17.0783°E  / -22.6638; 17.0783
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aerial view of Heroes´s Acre in 2017.

Heroes' Acre is an official war memorial of the Republic of Namibia . Built into the uninhabited hills 10 kilometres (6 mi) south of the city centre of Windhoek , Heroes' Acre opened on 26 August 2002. It was created to "foster a spirit of patriotism and nationalism, and to pass [this] to the future generations of Namibia". [1]

The memorial was designed and built by Mansudae Overseas Projects , a North Korean firm. [2] It is one of four major public works Mansudae constructed in Namibia, the other three being Okahandja Military Museum , a new State House and the Independence Memorial Museum . [2]

In February 2024, Namibia laid its President Hage Gottfried Geingob (1941-2024) to rest in one of the mausoleum located at the monument. Geingob who was at the time in his first term of presidency , played a pivotal role in the construction of the mausoleums that are reserved for Namibian President and was the first to be laid to rest in them.

Location and description [ edit ]

The Heroes' Acre monument is situated south of Windhoek on the B1 national road to Rehoboth . It is built as a symmetric polygon with a marble obelisk and a bronze statue of the Unknown Soldier at its centre. The site contains parade grounds and a grandstand for 5000 people. The burial site consists of 174 tombs, not all of which are currently occupied. [3]

Honored heroes [ edit ]

At inauguration nine national heroes and heroines were identified. For each of them a tombstone with name and picture has been erected, although they are not buried here. The nine national heroes are: [4]

  1. Kahimemua Nguvauva (1850?1896), Chief of the Ovambanderu , was wounded May 1896 in the Battle of Sturmfeld and after his surrender executed by the Germans [5]
  2. Nehale Lya Mpingana (died 1908), King of Ondonga , defeated the settlers of the Dorsland Trek in 1886, and German colonial forces at Fort Namutoni in 1904 [4]
  3. Samuel Maharero (1856?1923), Paramount Chief of the Herero people , led the uprisings against German colonialism that resulted in the Herero and Namaqua War of 1904?1907 [4]
  4. Hendrik Witbooi (1830?1905), chief of the ?Khowesin and fighter against the colonial oppression of the German Empire in German South West Africa [6]
  5. Jacob Morenga (1875?1907), used the fortress of ?Khauxa?nas to wage a guerrilla war against the Schutztruppe of Imperial Germany [7]
  6. Mandume Ya Ndemufayo (1894?1917), last king of the Kwanyama , led his people into battles with South African colonial forces [8]
  7. Iipumbu Ya Tshilongo (1875?1959), King of the Uukwambi and strong nationalist, resisted European cultural influence exercised via the establishment of mission stations and administrative outposts [4]
  8. Anna Mungunda (1910s?1959), protester against the forced eviction from Windhoek's Old Location in 1959. Set the car of a high-ranking administrator alight and was shot dead in response. [9]
  9. Hosea Kutako (1870?1970), Paramount Chief of the Herero and petitioner to the United Nations for an independent Namibia [10]
  10. Hage Gottfried Geingob (3 August 1941 ? 4 February 2024) served as the third President of Namibia from 2015-2024

Others [ edit ]

John Pandeni's grave

In later years, several additional people have been declared national heroes, and buried here. These are:

There are further National Heroes of Namibia without any connection to Heroe's Acre, namely: [22]

Seven veterans of the Namibian liberation struggle were reburied on Heroes' Acre in 2014: [25] [26]

  • Peter Nanyemba
  • Walde Homateni Timoteus Kaluenya
  • Isak "Pondo" Shikongo
  • Natalia Ndahambelela Shikangala Mavulu
  • Augustus "McNamara" Nghaamwa
  • Putuse Appolus
  • Lineekela Kalenga

On 26 August 2015, Namibia's Heroes' Day , three more veterans were reburied on Heroes' Acre: [27]

Construction controversy [ edit ]

Mansudae Overseas Projects , a company from North Korea was given a N$ 60 million contract from Namibia to build the 732-acre (2.96 km 2 ) monument. The contract was awarded without any competitive tendering process, and eventually the construction cost doubled. [3] The non-transparent contracting of foreign manual labour has been criticised by corruption watchdog insight Namibia . [28]

The memorial has been described as "monstrous" and its erection was speculated to "reveal a lack of African self-confidence". The statue of the Unknown Soldier resembles the physical features of Sam Nujoma , [3] Namibia's founding president and ultimately the initiator of its erection. [1]

In May 2005, a report in The Namibian noted that Heroes Acre was "already showing signs of decay". In particular, a bronze statue of a soldier had suffered damage, as had the plinth on which it stood. Some of the gold-coloured letters forming an inscription on the plinth were broken or missing, and the letters were "made of a cement-like substance, which had been painted gold and then glued to the plinth". [29]

See also [ edit ]

References [ edit ]

  1. ^ a b Windhoek City Council: Archived 2008-04-12 at the Wayback Machine What to see, National Monuments in Windhoek
  2. ^ a b Hall, Nick (December 9, 2022). "Empty lots and baboon feces: North Korea's monuments in Namibia ? in photos" . NK News . Retrieved 8 January 2023 .
  3. ^ a b c "Heroes' Acre Monument Namibia" . Namibia-travel.net. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010 . Retrieved 8 December 2010 .
  4. ^ a b c d Nujoma, Sam (26 August 2002). "Heroes' Acre Namibia Opening Ceremony ? inaugural speech" . via namibia-1on1.com.
  5. ^ Mashuna, Timotheus (30 March 2012). "Chief Kahimemua Nguvauva: The Prophetic anti-Imperialist Chief of the Ovambaderu (1850?1896)" . New Era .
  6. ^ Dierks, Klaus . "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, W" . klausdierks.com . Retrieved 19 November 2022 .
  7. ^ Dierks, Klaus . "Chapter 2: The Rediscovery of ?Khauxa?nas". ?Khauxa?nas . Retrieved 8 August 2012 .
  8. ^ Order out of Chaos: Mandume Ya Ndemufayo and Oral History by Patrica Hayes in the Journal of Southern African Studies , 19.1, March 1993]
  9. ^ Angula, Nahas (10 December 2010). "Old location massacre: the spark that ignited the struggle for national independence" . Speeches of the Prime Minister . Government of Namibia. Archived from the original on 29 November 2012.
  10. ^ Dierks, Klaus . "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, K" . klausdierks.com . Retrieved 9 August 2012 .
  11. ^ Dierks, Klaus . "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, H" . klausdierks.com . Retrieved 26 February 2015 .
  12. ^ Dierks, Klaus . "Biographies of Namibian Personalities, M" . klausdierks.com . Retrieved 29 December 2014 .
  13. ^ Markus Kooper: Death of a Hero New Era via allafrica.com, 19 December 2005
  14. ^ "The Decade of the 1970s" . The Center for International Education. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012 . Retrieved 19 July 2012 .
  15. ^ Christof Maletzky: Richard Kabajani passes away The Namibian , 21 May 2007
  16. ^ Ekongo, John (20 March 2008). "Namibia: Pandeni Was a Born Leader ? Iilonga" . New Era . via allafrica.com.
  17. ^ Sasman, Catherine (29 October 2010). "Peter Tsheehama: The fighter (1941 to 2010)" . New Era . Archived from the original on March 16, 2012.
  18. ^ "Nankudhu to be buried at Heroes' Acre" . New Era . 29 June 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013.
  19. ^ Haufiku, Mathias (9 November 2013). "Matongo was 'dedicated, well disciplined and fearless' " . New Era .
  20. ^ Haufiku, Mathias (22 April 2014). "National hero Intamba to rest" . New Era .
  21. ^ Kahiurika, Ndanki (26 February 2015). "Veii laid to rest" . The Namibian . p. 5.
  22. ^ "NamLex Index to the Laws of Namibia" (PDF) . Legal Assistance Centre. 2010. p. 122. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2017 . Retrieved 4 February 2017 .
  23. ^ "President Geingob confers honour of national hero to former NDF chief John Mutwa" . NBC . 18 June 2021.
  24. ^ Petersen, Shelleygan (11 April 2024). "Hero's funeral for Jimmy !Ha-Eiros" . The Namibian .
  25. ^ Remains of heroes to be repatriated
  26. ^ Remains of gallant fighters laid to rest at the Shrine of the Heroes' Acres. SWAPO party, retrieved 23 September 2017
  27. ^ "Families say reburials brings closure" . 27 August 2015.
  28. ^ "The hidden world of public contracting" (PDF) . insight Namibia . March 2008. Archived from the original (pdf) on 2011-07-22 . Retrieved 2010-12-08 .
  29. ^ Menges, Werner (6 May 2005). "Heroes' monument losing battle" . The Namibian. Archived from the original on 24 July 2014 . Retrieved 23 April 2014 .

22°39′50″S 17°04′42″E  /  22.6638°S 17.0783°E  / -22.6638; 17.0783

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