Otjimbingwe

Otjimbingwe is a settlement of around 8,000 people in the Erongo Region, part of the Karibib constituency. The Rhenish Missionary Society made it a central mission station in 1849, and the town became a thriving community — declared an official Rhenish mission station in 1864 and, in the 1860s, the seat where the Herero elected Maharero as their military commander and later paramount chief; the Battle of Otjimbingwe was fought here in 1863 during the Herero-Nama War. Missionary Carl Hugo Hahn founded the Augustineum seminary here in 1866 and South West Africa's first school in 1876. The Rhenish church at the settlement's center, built in 1867, is one of Namibia's oldest churches and a declared National Monument. Otjimbingwe declined after the railway from Windhoek to Swakopmund bypassed it in the early 1900s and administration shifted to Windhoek.

By Plane

Nearest airport is Walvis Bay (WVB IATA).

By Car / Road

Otjimbingwe is accessible via gravel roads from Karibib and Usakos.

The settlement is walkable.

• Rhenish Church (1867) — one of Namibia's oldest churches, a declared National Monument

• Old German Cemetery

• Explore the mission history of the settlement

Bring supplies.

• Karibib — the nearest town with services
• Usakos — historic railway town