Karibib
The
earliest settlers we could trace to the area of today's
Karibib district were missionary Johannes Rath and his family, who
arrived in Otjimbingwe on 11 July 1849.
Six
years later, in 1855, rich copper deposits were found in
the Khomas highlands, and the Walwich Bay Mining
Company was founded in Cape Town, with its offices in
Otjimbingwe, to exploit the deposits at the Matchless Mine, which then were transported with ox-wagons
from Otjimbingwe to Walvis Bay. By 1860, the copper
deposits were yielding too little for further mining
activities, and subsequently the mine closed down and sold
its buildings in Otjimbingwe to Charles Andersson for a whopping 1500 pounds.
In
the meantime, the Rhenish Missionary Society extended its
activities until an offical white settlement in
Otjimbingwe was announced in 1864. The buildings of the
Walwich Bay Mining Company, later owned by Charles
Anderson were used to set up a smith for building
ox-wagons and tools, as well as store-rooms and a butcher.
One of the first settlers to take residence in Otjimbingwe
in 1864 was Mr. Johann Carl Eduard Hälbich,
who arrived with missionary Carl Hugo Hahn on 9 January
1863 in Walvis Bay.
Originally,
Karibib was nothing but an unknown waterhole belonging to
the West-Hereros. The waterhole and surrounding 20000
hectares was later sold by treaty by the Herero headman
of Otjimbingwe (true Herero name: Otjizingue),
Zacharias Zeraua to Mr Eduard Hälbich of Otjimbingwe. The
original treaty of 30 November 1894 read 20 000 hectares
at 2.00 Reichsmark per hectare surrounding the waterhole.
The final treaty dated 7 January 1895 stipulated, that
only 15000 hectares were to be sold off at the rate of
1.50 Reichsmark per hectare surrounding the waterhole. It
was furthermore stipulated, that the incurred debts of 742 pounds
5 shillings and 2 sixpence at
the shop of Mr. Eduard Hälbich
were to be deducted. In addition to the settlement of debt, Zeraua
received two ox-wagons with 36 oxen and some other
compensation in consumables and clothing.
Hälbich
opened a branch in Karibib in 1897 or 1898, and in 1899
already 5 white employees of Hälbich were living in
Karibib. The same year, Karibib received a second
waterhole to cater for increased needs. After the railway
reached Jakkalswater, a military outpost of 4
soldiers was opened in Karibib in 1899 to safeguard the
approaching railway. In 1900, the town's population was
standing at 10, and further developments occurred at the
expense of Otjimbingwe, as the ox-wagons which used to
travel via Otjimbingwe to Swakopmund, now travelled via
Karibib.
By
the time the railway from Swakopmund to Windhoek had
reached Karibib on 30 May 1900, the government of the day
moved the district council from Otjimbingwe to Karibib.
During these years, the Karibib district grew fast, as
Zeraua sold off two-thirds of his traditional land before
1902 to white settlers. The district governors at the time
were Dr. Merenski and Mr. Wehle.
The
railway was officially opened on 1 July 1900, which
initated a hectic activity at the town, and except Mssrs.
Hälbich, more traders were to come and open shop in
Karibib, such as Mssrs. Redecker, who opened a storage
facility at Karibib. The first medical doctor. Dr.
Stephen, also settled down during 1900, and the erection
of a Kaiser Wilhelm hospital was planned. In 1901, the
railway station, the local prison and six new living
quarters were completed and in use. As the trains needed
lots of water, the railway station had a complete water
installation to provide the trains with water for their
steam engines. It was decided to use the water
installation of the railway station to provide the living
quarters with fresh water - an flowing fresh water
advancement which was heralded at the time as one of the
most modern of such installations. The town now counted 92
people and jumped to 274 in 1902. The year 1901 also saw
the separation of Karibib as a distinct district from the
district of Omaruru on 1 July 1901. The administrative
headquarters were finally moved from Otjimbingwe to
Karibib on 1 December 1901.
In
1902, the railway building was continued from Karibib
towards Windhoek, and as the mammoth of the railway
building process and all the workers moved toward
Windhoek, business quieted down in Karibib as of 1903
although a substantial number of farmers had settled in
the Karibib environs. However, trading with the farmers
was not as fast and rich as it was with the exclusive
consumers of the railway brigades. Two factors had a
detrimental effect on the flourishing of Karibib before
1904. For one, large areas of the Karibib district were in
the hands of the Deutsche Kolonial-Gesellschaft,
who was not eager to let got of their vested interests
easily. Secondly, Karibib was in the traditional area of
the West-Hereros, who were equally not very keen on
selling land to settlers and traders.
During
the Herero uprising of 1904, Zeraua left the settlers in
the Karibib district greatly umharmed, and due to the
railway link from Swakopmund to Karibib, the town's
importance as military hub grew rapidly. Eventually, the
status of Karibib district was raised to that of a county,
and expanded to include the governance of the district of Omaruru
(Herero: omeva omaruru: sour water), although
Karibib still fell under the magisterial powers of
Otjimbingwe until 9 May 1898, when the Magistrate's Court
of Otjimbingwe was relocated to Swakopmund. Thus, Karibib
was an enormous executive power, but the legislative
powers were vested in the courts of Swakopmund. The
district governors during the Herero uprise were Cpt.
Franke (see also Franke tower in Omaruru) and Lieutenant
Kuhn. On 2 February 1904, Captain Viktor Franke and his troop
arrived in Karibib to push the uprising towards Okahandja
and move Karibib out of the war zone. However, continued
plundering by Hereros only subceded by 1907, after
additional military presence was despatched into the area.
In June 1907, the district's population was counted at
444, of which 316 were residing in Karibib, 32 in
Otjimbingwe, and the remaining 68 on farms.
After
the Herero uprising, a new delineation of Karibib
district was done on 23 October 1907, and laboured until 2
March 1908, when eventually, the farms Etiro, Nooitgedacht,
Otjimbojo and Otjakatjongo along the Khan
river were allocated from Omaruru to Karibib, and the town
of Usakos be moved from Swakopmund to Karibib. The new
delineation was recorded on the map of 1911. The district
governor after the uprising was Mr. von der Groeben.
On
26 August 1910, the government in Windhoek asked the
administration in Karibib to yet take over the district
Okahandja. The mayor of Karibib, Mr. Eduard Hälbich, and
the local administrator Mr. von der Groeben protested
strongly in order to prevent such expansion. Unfortunately,
about 70% of all transcripts and records were destroyed,
before they could be transferred to the National Archives
of Namibia.
On
8 December 1907, a reserve for the Herero was proclaimed
in the vicinity of Otjimbingwe, whilst the remaining
Herero land was confiscated and offered to the resident
farmers in the district, a process which lasted until
1909, by which time Karibib district was already counting
837 white settlers, traders and farmers. By 1914, the
census counted 892 white people (Karibib: 339, Usakos:
314, Otjimbingwe: 42 and 197 on farms).
In
1910, the first year of a Namibian agronomic census, the
district counted 2270 cattle, 8850 goats and sheep, and
139 horses on 65 farms already developed or to be
developed. In 1914, this increased to 14125 cattle, 46435
goats and sheep, 891 horses, 625 mulis, 218 donkeys, 601
pork and 163 ostriches on 74 farms.
As
per ordinance of 1909, Karibib became a "Gemeindeverband"
(municipality) on 15 May 1909, with the first municipal
elections for 97 voters (of which 86 voted) dating back to
16 July 1909. The first municipal council thus included
the following gentlemen: Rügheimer, Hübener, Wahrlich,
Zimmermann, Gelbke and Hiller. Each council member
represented a different section of the industry, e.g.
Hiller represented the officials, Gelbke the
manufacturers, and Zimmermann the business people. On 2
August 1909, Mr Eduard Hälbich was unanimously voted into
office as first mayor of Karibib for the period of three
years.
Early
in 1910, government agreed to transfer the farm Okomitundu
as well as 6790 hectares of the farm Okawayo to
Mssrs. Hälbich in exchange for 9443 hectares of farm
Karibib, of which 6790 hectares were for town Karibib
proper, and the remaining 2653 hectares were for the
military troops. After protracted negotiations, government
sold on 11 April 1911 to the Karibib municipality the
total of 6790.46 hectares at 0.50 Reichsmark, as well as
all roads, school grounds, school buildings, waterholes
(see also Kaiserbrunnen)
and other public buildings, to be paid off within twenty
years at an interest rate of 3%.
The
first regional council was elected on 6 December 1909, and
included the following persons: Emil Peters, Friedrich
Schetter, Anton Oberprieler, Frank Schliemann, August
Elger and a Mr Krause.
(we would like to thank Mr Jochen
Kutzner, National Archives of Namibia, for his valuable
input)
|
