14 Feb 2025
The renovation and repurposing of the historic Alte Feste in Windhoek is set to begin in March. This was explained by the Managing Director of the Namibia Craft Centre, Shareen Thude, when asked by Namibian.org. She was referring to phase I of the plans. The Craft Centre is the driving force of the project.
Phase I involves refurbishing the front part of the building, the veranda and the inner courtyard. A café-restaurant is also planned. The Alte Feste is to be transformed into a meeting place and tourist centre with craft workshops, an art gallery and a museum.
Namibian.org's enquiry was prompted by a press release from the German Embassy in Windhoek about a financial grant. The Federal Foreign Office is providing 160,000 euros (currently around 3.08 million Namibian dollars; amount according to the current exchange rate, 1 N$ = 1 ZAR) from its cultural preservation programme for this and next year.
This brings the total funding for the project to around 13.3 million Namibia Dollar. N$ 5 million comes from the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MEAC), around N$ 4.6 million from the United States Ambassadors Cultural Fund for Preservation and N$ 650,000 from the First Rand Foundation. N$15 million was budgeted for Phase I. The cost of the entire project with some extras is over N$ 60 million.
The managing director of the Namibia Craft Centre is confident that the entire project will be realised. She is also counting on the Joint Declaration between Namibia and Germany on overcoming the German colonial era. If it is signed, 50 million euros will be available for reconciliation projects.
Schutztruppe commander Curt von Francois had the Alte Feste (see article on Wikipedia) built as a fortification in 1890. The oldest surviving building in Windhoek thus also symbolises the genocide of OvaHerero and Nama between 1904 and 1908.
"By repurposing and upgrading the Alte Feste into a National Genocide Museum and Arts, Crafts and Heritage Centre of Excellence," says German ambassador Thorsten Hutter, "the joint initiative aims to transform a relic of the German colonial era into a vibrant and accessible space that hold socio-economic and cultural relevance for all communities in contemporary Namibia."
The concept and content of the genocide museum are to be determined by MEAC and the affected communities.
As part of an agreement with the Ministry of Education, the Craft Centre has taken the lead in redesigning the Alte Feste. The centre will have to move from its current location, the Old Brewery complex, as it is to be remodelled and used for other purposes. In the meantime, however, the owner of the complex, the Ohlthaver & List Group, has extended the lease until 2027.
Sven-Eric Stender
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