In the article below, Dr Nikolai Mossolow highlights the work of two architects who left their mark on the built environment of Windhoek (and other towns in Namibia). The piece was published in the August 1978 edition of Restorica hence the reference to South West Africa. Thank you to the Heritage Association of South Africa and the University of Pretoria for giving us permission to publish.
Two architects left deep footprints in the development of Windhoek, and with that in the history of South West Africa: Gottlieb Redecker and Wilhelm Sander.
Gottlieb Redecker
Redecker was born on the 30th April, 1871, as the son of the missionary colonist Wilhelm Redecker at Otjimbingwe, South West Africa, which was, as it was called at the time, the central point of Damaraland, and as from the 1st February, 1876, he attended the missionary school which opened on that day, established by the Missionary Bernsmann for the mission children.
Gottlieb Redecker
After the death of his mother in 1882 he was sent to relatives in Germany at Gütersloh. After the completion of his studies at the High School he studied building construction and became a structural engineer. At the end of 1895 he was commissioned by the Otjimbingwe firm of Halbich to construct a wagon factory at Otjimbingwe, and in addition to deliver and install...
