Independence Memorial Museum | |
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General information | |
Type | Historical museum |
Coordinates | 22°34′08″S17°05′17″E / 22.5688°S 17.0881°E |
Groundbreaking | 2011 |
Inaugurated | 21 March 2014 |
Height | 40 metres (130 ft) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 5 |
Lifts/elevators | 1 |
Design and construction | |
Architecture firm | Mansudae Overseas Projects |
The Independence Memorial Museum is a history museum in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It focuses on the anti-colonial resistance and the national liberation movement of Namibia. [1]
The museum is located on Robert Mugabe Avenue and 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 Heroes' Acre, Okahandja Military Museum and a new State House. [2]
The museum's appearance has been likened to that of a potjie, [2] as well as a coffee pot [3] and a molar tooth. [4] It is flanked by two statues: a statue of Namibia's first president, Sam Nujoma, and the Genocide Memorial, both also built by Mansudae. [2]
The museum was inaugurated on March 20, 2014, [1] the twenty-fourth anniversary of independence of the country, by President Hifikepunye Pohamba. [5]
The name of the proposed museum was subject to considerable debate from the time of its proposal. Usutuaije Maamberua, president of South West Africa National Union (SWANU), proposed the name "Genocide Remembrance Centre", in recognition of the site where it was built being known as Orumbo rua Katjombondi, Otjiherero : a place of horror. [6]
The Independence Memorial Museum is located on Robert Mugabe Avenue between two buildings from the German colonial period, the Christuskirche and the colonial citadel, the Alte Feste. The museum sits on a small slope between the two structures, and according to the historian Reihard Kossler, has broken up the ensemble of German monuments in Windhoek. [7] In sharp contrast to the German colonial architectural style of the existing historical structures, the Independence Memorial Museum is built in the North Korean socialist realist style, symbolic of the "modernist, post-colonial state." [6]
The museum structure consists of a five-story triangular glass structure and was planned with four equal walls of 40 metres (130 ft) reaching a height of at least 40 metres (130 ft). It features a glass-fronted elevator at its front.
A bronze statue in the North Korean style commemorating Sam Nujoma is placed prominently at the front of the museum. In the statue Nujoma faces towards Windhoek and holds a copy of the Constituency Book, the Constitution of Namibia. It is located on the site of the Reiterdenkmal equestrian statue, [8] [9] which stood on the hill for 102 years. The Reiterdenkmal statue was considered controversial after the independence of Namibia; some in the country viewed it as symbol of colonial oppression. [8] Others, primarily from the German-speaking community in Namibia, saw any alteration of the statue as a violation of the Namibian Heritage Act of 2004, which outlines the procedures to protect national heritage sites in Namibia. [10] The Reiterdenkmal statue was removed in 2013 and is now located in the courtyard of the Alte Feste Museum. [8]
The Genocide Memorial sits south of the Nujoma statue. It depicts the 'untold hardships and suffering' at the hands of the Schutztruppe, the troops of the German colonial empire during the 1904–07 war. The statue depicts a man and woman in embrace, symbolizing freedom. The couple stand atop a rendering of a traditional Namibian residence. The concrete brick base of the memorial has the inscription "Their Blood Waters Our Freedom" in raised black letters. [8]
The first floor, titled "Colonial Repression", commemorates early resistance leaders of Namibia and the timeline of the country under South African rule. The second floor, titled "Liberation", commemorates the South African Border War and the role of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) during that conflict. The third floor, titled "Road to Independence", details the activities of SWAPO, United Nations Security Council Resolution 435, and includes a viewing platform of the Panoramic Hall of the museum. [8]
The last floor (fourth floor) accessible by visitors houses a restaurant, known as the NIMMS (National Independence Memorial Museum), from which there are views over the city. The restaurant showcases a broad spectrum of Namibian culture including ornaments, clothing and books. Some of these items are up for sale.
The history of Namibia has passed through several distinct stages from being colonised in the late nineteenth century to Namibia's independence on 21 March 1990.
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.
The South West Africa People's Organisation, officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former independence movement in Namibia. Founded in 1960, it has been the governing party in Namibia since the country achieved independence in 1990. The party continues to be dominated in number and influence by the Ovambo ethnic group.
Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first president of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) in 1960. Before 1960, SWAPO was known as the Ovambo People's Organisation (OPO). He played an important role as leader of the national liberation movement in campaigning for Namibia's political independence from South African rule. He established the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) in 1962 and launched a guerrilla war against the apartheid government of South Africa in August 1966 at Omugulugwombashe, beginning after the United Nations withdrew the mandate for South Africa to govern the territory. Nujoma led SWAPO during the lengthy Namibian War of Independence, which lasted from 1966 to 1989.
Hifikepunye Lucas Pohamba is a Namibian politician who served as the second president of Namibia from 21 March 2005 to 21 March 2015. He won the 2004 presidential election overwhelmingly as the candidate of SWAPO and was reelected in 2009. Pohamba was the president of SWAPO from 2007 until his retirement in 2015. He is a recipient of the Ibrahim Prize.
Mansudae Overseas Projects is a construction company based in Jongphyong-dong, Phyongchon District, Pyongyang, North Korea. It is the international commercial division of the Mansudae Art Studio. As of August 2011, it had earned an estimated US$160 million overseas building monuments and memorials. As of 2015, Mansudae projects have been built in 17 countries: Angola, Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Cambodia, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Germany, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Togo and Zimbabwe. The company uses North Korean artists, engineers, and construction workers rather than those of the local artists and workers. Sculptures, monuments, and buildings are in the style of North Korean socialist realism.
National Heroes' Acre or simply Heroes' Acre is a burial ground and national monument in Harare, Zimbabwe. The 23-hectare (57-acre) site is situated on a ridge seven kilometres from Harare, towards Norton. Its stated purpose is to commemorate Patriotic Front guerrillas killed during the Rhodesian Bush War, and contemporary Zimbabweans whose dedication or commitment to their country justify their interment at the shrine. People buried here are considered heroes by the incumbent Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front regime, which has administered the country since independence at 1980. Indeed, most of the recipients of the 'hero status' were known to be Zanu-PF sympathisers.
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".
Cassinga Day is a national public holiday in Namibia remembering the Cassinga Massacre. Commemorated annually on 4 May, the date "remembers those killed in 1978 when the South African Defence Force attacked a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola". Commemorations are marked yearly by ceremonies at Heroes' Acre, outside of Windhoek. These ceremonies are attended by many important national political figures, including incumbent President Hage Geingob and former Presidents Hifikepunye Pohamba and Sam Nujoma.
2009 in Namibia refers to the events which occurred and will occur in the year of 2009 in the Republic of Namibia.
The State House of the Republic of Namibia is the official residence and workplace of the President of Namibia.
Omugulugwombashe is a settlement in the Tsandi electoral constituency in the Omusati Region of northern Namibia. The settlement features a clinic and a primary school. In 1966, the first battle of the South African Border War was fought in Omugulugwombashe. The government of Namibia erected a monument on the 30th anniversary of the battle in 1996.
The Alte Feste is a fortress and museum in downtown Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is situated in Robert Mugabe Avenue, next to the Independence Memorial Museum.
The following lists events that happened during 2005 in Namibia.
The Equestrian Monument, more commonly known under its German original name Reiterdenkmal and the name Südwester Reiter, was a monument in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It was inaugurated on 27 January 1912, the birthday of German emperor Wilhelm II. The monument honoured the soldiers and civilians that died on the German side of the Herero and Namaqua War of 1904–1907, a situation that caused controversy about its role in a democratic Namibia that has shed its colonial occupation and gained independence.
Namibia–North Korea relations refers to the current and historical relationship between Namibia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Neither country maintains an embassy in their respective capitals, although DPRK formerly had one in Windhoek, which closed down in 1994.
Brazil and Namibia established diplomatic relations in 1990. Both nations are members of the Group of 77 and the United Nations.
The National Museum of Namibia is a historical and zoological museum in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia. It is governed by the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture of the Namibian government.
Godfrey ǀKhaesen Gaoseb was a Namibian economist and civil servant. He served as the first permanent secretary in the Namibian Ministry of Finance after the independence of Namibia, an executive director of the World Bank, and as the Special Advisor on Economics to presidents Sam Nujoma and Hifikepunye Pohamba.