Duwisib Castle

Duwisib Castle, sometimes spelt Duwiseb or Duweseb, is a grand pseudo-medieval looking fortress in the hills of the semi-arid Southern Namib region of Namibia, 72 km southwest of Maltahöhe, Hardap Region. It was built in 1909 to serve as the residence of Hans Heinrich von Wolf, a German military officer. Since 1979 the castle has been owned by the government.

Duwisib was built by 'Baron' Captain Hans Heinrich von Wolf (born in Dresden, September 11, 1873), a Saxon artillery officer following in the footsteps of his father Ernst (an officer in the Royal Saxon Army) who served in Königsbrück and was posted to (then) German South-West Africa as member of the Schutztruppe. After the German-Nama war Captain von Wolf went home and married the stepdaughter of the US consul, Miss Jayta Humphreys (1881-1963), on 8 April 1907. They decided to settle in German South-West Africa and bought eight farms in the Maltahöhe area covering 20,000 hectares, to which they added another 35,000 hectares in 1910, operating the property as a stud farm for English and Australian thoroughbred horses.

Eminent architect Wilhelm Sander was commissioned to design a building and construction commenced in 1908. It was hoped that the castle would bear a resemblance to some of the existing German forts in Namibia, some of which are situated in Windhoek, like the Schwerinsburg, Sanderburg, and Heinitzburg castles and the administrative offices known as the Tintenpalast (now the national legislative building). Red sandstone was obtained locally but most materials such as iron, wood, cement, and lamps were imported from Germany, first by sea through the port of Lüderitz and then hauled 300 km from the coast on wagons drawn by 24 oxen through the Namib. Artisans were hired from around Europe, including bricklayers from Italy and carpenters from Sweden and Ireland.

The Von Wolfs lived in a hut with their coachman and their Herero servant during the grueling construction process. While the servants were involved in maintenance, the Von Wolfs participated avidly, Hans Heinrich planting the courtyard with palm trees. The resulting edifice consisted of 22 rooms and included furnishings both bought at a castle auction and imported (a massive German oak cabinet and Turkish bamboo tables). The mid-1909 inauguration was attended by major South-West African dignitaries.

Text adapted from “Duwisib Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Duwisib Castle ranks #3,411 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #1 of the 5 mapped in Namibia. Founded 1909 — one of 177 atlas entries founded in the 20th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,208 times in the last 60 days, more than 53% of the atlas. See how Namibia compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗