Hochland Park (also Hochlandpark, seldom Highland Park) is a residential suburb in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is named after the German Khomas Hochland, the central-Namibian plateau area in which Windhoek is situated.
Hochland Park is situated adjacent to the city centre and borders the suburbs of Tauben Glen and Acacia in the east, Dorado Park in the north, Windhoek West in the west and Pioneers Park in the south. Originally designed as a whites-only area it is today an affluent residential area for Windhoek's upper middle class, both black and white.
Hochland Park was established in the late 1960s at the place where Windhoek's Old Location, a township for black residents, used to be. Blacks were evicted from this township by force when central Windhoek grew too close to the area. A new township, Katutura, was established far away from the city centre.
The eviction faced severe resistance by the black community. On December 10, 1959, apartheid police attacked a protest gathering, killing 11 people and wounding 44. This day became known as the "Old Location uprising". [1] It was one of the events leading to the foundation of SWAPO [2] by forcing community leaders from the Ovamboland People's Organization into exile, among them Sam Nujoma, [3] who later became Namibia's founding president. The Old Location uprising is the reason for the declaration of December 10, Human Rights Day, as a Namibian national holiday.
In 1968 the Old Location was officially closed and whites began to settle. Today, blacks who participated in the liberation struggle and became economically successful after independence often make a political statement by taking up residence in Hochland Park, the area they had been chased away from by the whites. Many ministers and high government officials and the inspector-general of the Namibian police today live in Hochland Park. [4]
Street names in Hochland Park are named after birds, just like in the adjacent suburbs of Tauben Glen and Acacia, reflecting the languages spoken by the white community at the time of the establishment of the suburb. Approximately a third of them are English (Goshawk Street, Kingfisher Road), Afrikaans (Hamerkopweg, Kestrell Straat), and German (Raben Road, Falkenweg), respectively.
Windhoek is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around 1,700 m (5,600 ft) above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which was 486,169 in 2023, is constantly growing due to a continued migration from other regions in Namibia.
In South Africa, the terms township and location usually refers to an under-developed, racially segregated urban area, from the late 19th century until the end of apartheid, were reserved for non-whites, namely Black Africans, Coloureds and Indians. Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities. The term township also has a distinct legal meaning in South Africa's system of land title, which carries no racial connotations.
Katutura Central is a constituency in the Khomas Region of Namibia, comprising the extensions 2–5 and 7–11 of Windhoek's suburb Katutura. Katutura is a township that was founded by the then apartheid government of Namibia for black people in the 1950s, when the previous township, Old Location, was converted into the suburb Hochland Park.
Katutura East is a constituency in the Khomas Region of Namibia. It consists of the extensions 1, 6, and 19 of the suburb Katutura, a township within Windhoek that was founded by the then Apartheid government of Namibia for black people in the 1950s. It had a population of 18,501 in 2011, up from 17,745 in 2001. As of 2020, it has 15,878 registered voters.
The suburbs of Johannesburg are officially demarcated areas within the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. As in other Commonwealth countries, the term suburb refers to a "neighbourhood", although in South Africa most "suburbs" have legally recognised borders and often separate postal codes. The municipal functions for the area, such as municipal policing and social services, are still managed by the city government.
The Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) was a nationalist organization that existed between 1959 and 1960 in South West Africa. The aim of the organization was to end the South African colonial administration, and the placement of South West Africa under the United Nations Trusteeship system. Andimba Toivo ya Toivo had founded its predecessor, the Ovamboland People's Congress, in 1957 in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1959, Sam Nujoma and Jacob Kuhangua established the Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) at the Old Location in Windhoek. Sam Nujoma was the president of OPO until its transformation into the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) a year later and remained president until Namibia gained independence in 1990.
Katutura is a township of Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia. Katutura was created in 1961 following the forced removal of Windhoek's black population from the Old Location, which afterwards was developed into the suburb of Hochland Park. Sam Nujoma Stadium, built in 2005, is located within Katutura. Katutura Community Radio, a community-based radio station, also operates from the township. Katutura State Hospital, one of two State Hospitals in the Windhoek area, is located in the township.
Clemens Kapuuo was a Namibian school teacher, shopkeeper, president of the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA), now called Popular Democratic Movement (PDM), and chief of the Herero people of Namibia. Kapuuo was one of the leading opponents of South African rule of his country until his assassination following the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference.
Windhoek Central Business District is the inner city area of Windhoek, capital of Namibia. It is surrounded by the suburbs of Windhoek West and Hochland Park in the west, Windhoek-North in the north, Eros, Klein-Windhoek, Luxushügel and Auasblick in the east, and Suiderhof and Southern Industrial in the south.
Ella Du Plessis High School is a school in the Khomasdal suburb of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was established in 1964 by Andrew John Fred Kloppers, who was also the first principal of the school. He started the school with only 52 learners in the Old Location, an area of Windhoek where today the suburb of Hochland Park is situated. The school was named after the wife of Mr. A.H. du Plessis, the administrator of the S.A. government in South West Africa. Ella du Plessis was the first non-racial government school of South West Africa, and it was for the poor and the deprived. The school has had various principals since its inception. Following Mr. A.J.F Kloppers were principals of note such as Mr. Hartung, Mr. Willa Fielies, Mr. Adolf De Klerk, Mr Edson, Mr Hansen, Mr Seth January as well as Mr. Clement Kloppers the son of Mr. Andrew Kloppers who served from 1992 to 2002, Mr Seth Januarie was principal from 2002 until his retirement in 2012, and since then Mr. J. Kavari occupies this position with great distinction. Today, Ella du Plessis has a learner population of 1050 and 37 teachers.
Pioneers Park is a suburb in the south of Windhoek, Namibia, in the Windhoek West parliamentary constituency. It was developed in the second half of the 20th century as a white community, with the previous black residents being expelled to Katutura. The suburb is mainly residential, but also contains the main campus of the University of Namibia. Other local facilities include a cemetery and the Catholic Church of St. Boniface, built in 1928, which is now a national monument.
The Old Location was an area segregated for Black residents of Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was situated in the area between today's suburbs of Hochland Park and Pioneers Park.
Hulda Kamboi Shipanga was a nurse, midwife, and ministerial adviser to the Namibian Ministry of Health. She was the first black nurse in Namibia to be promoted to matron, the highest rank.
Ottilie Grete Abrahams was a Namibian educator, activist, and politician.
Coloured people in Namibia are people with both European and African, especially Khoisan and Bantu ancestry, as well as Indian, Malay, and Malagasy ancestry especially along the coast and areas bordering South Africa. Coloureds have immigrated to Namibia, been born in Namibia or returned to the country. These distinctively different periods of arrivals, from diverse backgrounds and origins have led to a diverse Coloured population. This diversity was even further exploited by South African officials who referred to three distinct groups amongst the coloureds, namely: "Baster", "Cape Coloureds" and "Namibian Coloureds".
The Augustineum Secondary School, established in 1866, is among the oldest schools in Namibia. Originally situated in Otjimbingwe, it was relocated to Okahandja in 1890, and finally to Windhoek in 1968. Previously also known as the Augustineum Training College and today the Augustineum Secondary School, it is a public school located in Khomasdal, a suburb of Windhoek.
St Barnabas was an Anglican mission station, church, and school in Windhoek, the administrative centre of South West Africa. The school was situated in the Old Location suburb. When Old Location was closed for blacks in 1968 the existing buildings and institutions, among them St Barnabas, were destroyed.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Windhoek, Namibia.