German South West Africa stamp

The Germans did not last long in south west Africa, modern day Namibia. That does not mean they did not go a long way to shaping the place. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Todays stamp is a standard colonial German issue. The empire was small outposts of Germans all over the world. So a ship or the home countries monarch would be a welcome sight on the stamps. Regular stops by ships to bring longed for contact from home was a big part of colonial life. Also the idea that the monarch remembers you and is looking out for you in a perhaps inhospitable place. This German stamp cleverly manages both. The ship is the SMY Hohenzollern II, the Kaiser’s royal yacht. You wouldn’t have seen it much in Namibia though, the Kaiser mainly used it for his annual vacation to Norway.

The stamp today is issue A3, a five Pfennig stamp issued by the Crown Colony of German Southwest Africa in 1900. The South West Africa version of the stamp came in thirteen different denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth $20 mint.

Although the first European contact in south west Africa was with Portuguese, they did not stay. The bulk of the locals were hunter/gatherer Khoikhoi tribesman. To the Germans they were known as the Hottentots. The first European camps were German Lutheran Rhenish missionary camps. The British also sent some missionaries but they quickly affiliated with the Germans. The missionaries were followed by industrialists who saw the potential for farming and copper mining. Unlike other German colonies, the call went out for German colonists. As the locals were nomadic there was nothing really to conquer, but German interests in the area were confirmed by the Conference of Berlin in 1884. Cooperation with Britain was a part of this and English and especially Boers became important investers. Diamonds were discovered in 1908. The area of the Colony was larger than Germany.

The Hottentots were not happy with German presence. In something that will sound familiar to modern South Africans, Hottentots began raiding German farms and killing the families. The Hottentots were under the leadership of German trained tribal King Hendrik Witboi, who they named the “captain who disappears into the grass.” Over 150 Germans were massacred and Hottentot sieges were laid on even the capital of Windhoek. The Germans only had the 1700 strong Schutztruppe of part time German colonists with officers from Germany. Luckily their ranks were swelled by Boer volunteers and additional troops sent from Germany. The Hottentots were chased into the desert northern part of the territory and the women and children held in camps. The Germans then put a guard on all the water holes and shot all Hottentots that approached until they surrendered in 1908. By the end of the uprising, the native population was less than half of what was before, more from the desert than the fighting. Hendrik Witboi died in action against the Germans and is revered in today’s Namibia, even appearing on the money, which I am sure they mean as a compliment.

Hottentot tribal King Hendrik Whitboi, “The captain who disappears into the grass”

When World War I came, the South Africans invaded and the Germans did not resist and many stayed in South West Africa. The change in the counties demographics after the Hottentot rebellion meant the country stayed white ruled much longer than most. It only became African ruled Namibia in 1990, and there are still over 30,000 people there of German heritage.

The SMY Hohenzollern survived World War I but was not required by the Weimar Republic. Therefore she sat unused and was broken up in 1922. This was also the fate of the half built replacement ship, the Hohenzollern III. The ships had been built by AG Vulcan shipyard in the former German city of Stettin. Kaiser Wilhelm II had spent over 4 years of his life aboard.

The Royal yacht Hohenzollern on a postcard from Norway. The natives there appear more friendly than the Hottentots.

Well my drink is empty. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

This stamp celebrates 100 years since the first post office. The stamp hints though at an earlier history, when Missionary developed a regular communication to look out for each other. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip if your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

In keeping with the 100 year post office theme, the stamp dates the mail carrying camel crossing the Kalahari desert to 1904. By then there was a long history of it. Spread out colonial outposts had to stay in touch even if the technology did not yet make it easy. Think of how treacherous these necessary and regularly scheduled treks were.

Todays stamp is issue A128, a 50 Cent stamp issued by South West Africa, on July 7th, 1988. It was from the last days of the South African administration before the area became Namibia. It was a four stamp issue in various denominations mistakingly dating the start of the postal service to the construction of the first village post offices during the German period of the area. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.25 used.

The coast of South West Africa was first spotted by the Portuguese at a time when it was very sparsely populated by nomads who the British called Bushmen and the Germans called Hottentots. Nam seems to be the current boring term for them. The British were first with a permanent settlement on the coast at Walvis Bay and the Germans followed further south at Luderitz. The postal service on camel dates to 1814 and was a regular messenger service between Christian Missionary camps in the interior. Again there was British and Germans involved with Congregationalists of the London Missionary Society and German Lutherans of the Rhenish Missionary Society.

South West Africa began to change with the arrival of a former tobacco trading German named Adolf Luderitz. He had worked in America and Mexico in failed tobacco ventures. Back in Germany, he married a rich heiress and was ready anew to seek his fortune. He was very concerned at the number of young Germans that were setting out to America as he had. He felt that they were loosing his Germanness. He thought an area of just Germans in Africa could be a better outlet for Germans seeking a fresh start. The newly united Germany was very weary of African commitments but Bismarck was convinced to grant Luderitz’s area German protection. Luderitz had expanded his area of control by trading rifles for land with the African tribes. With official German support, a deal was struck that gave South West Africa a strip of land called the Caprivi strip that connected the colony to the Zambezi River and by extension to German colonies in east Africa. Keeping connections being so important so far from home. Adolf Luderitz desperately sought to find the mineral wealth that might justify all the work he put in. During one of his missions his boat on the Orange River was lost showing how treacherous it all was. As he was checking in nightly, it is at least known what day he was lost. The Hottentot chief who took the rifles for the land later claimed he did not understand the magnitude of the land he was giving up. He then filed a complaint with the Germans demanding money.

Namibia Post Offices still function though the camels have been retired. A private company NamPost took charge of the postal system in 1992 and claims to have 135 post offices and 743 employees. The Caprivi strip still officially belongs to Namibia though it attempted to break away under the African name Itenge around the year 2000. Perhaps a private profit seeking postal service is not ideal to keep solid connections. The town in Namibia retains Luderitz’s name post independence as it attracts tourists but many of the streets named for him in German cities are being renamed one by one.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the adventurers who travel far whether for profit or God. It sure beats standing around with your hand out. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting