Government Building sights in Windhoek
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A
Tintenpalast
The road east from Alte Feste leads to the Tintenpalast, now the parliament building, which was designed by Gottlieb Redecker and built in 1913 as the administrative headquarters for German South-West Africa. The name means 'Ink Palace', in honour of all the ink spent on the typically excessive government paperwork it generated. It has also served as the nerve centre for all subsequent governments, including the present one.
The building is remarkable mainly for its construction from indigenous materials. The surrounding gardens were laid out in the 1930s, and include an olive grove and a bowling green. In front, have a look at Namibia's first post-independence monument, …
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B
Turnhalle
Built by Otto Busch in 1909, the Turnhalle was originally the practice hall for the Windhoek Gymnastic Club. In 1975 it was modernised and turned into a conference hall, and on 1 September of that year, it was the venue for the first Constitutional Conference on Independence for South West Africa, which subsequently - and more conveniently - came to be called the Turnhalle Conference. During the 1980s it hosted several political summits and debates on the way to Namibian independence.
It's now the site of meetings of the National Council.
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C
Kaiserliche Realschule
Kaiserliche Realschule, Windhoek's first German primary school, opened in 1909 with 74 students, but over the next few years enrolment increased and the building had to be enlarged. The curious turret with wooden slats, which was part of the original building, was designed to provide ventilation. The building later housed Windhoek's first German high school, and after WWII, served as an English middle school.
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D
Old Magistrates' Court
Although the Old Magistrates' Court was constructed in 1898 as quarters for Carl Ludwig, the state architect, it was never occupied, and was eventually drafted into service as the magistrates' court. The veranda on the south side provided a shady sitting area for people waiting for their cases to be called. The building now houses the Namibia Conservatorium.
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E
Old Supreme Court
Dating from 1908, the gabled brick Old Supreme Court was a court from 1920 to 1930, when the legal system was changing from the German to the South African model.
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