Heroes' Acre is an official

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

of the Republic of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. Built into the uninhabited hills south of the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 202 ...

, Heroes' Acre opened on 26 August 2002. It was created to "foster a spirit of patriotism and nationalism, and to pass histo the future generations of Namibia".Windhoek City Council:
What to see, National Monuments in Windhoek The memorial was designed and built by

Mansudae Overseas Projects Mansudae Overseas Projects is a construction company based in Jongphyong-dong, Phyongchon District, Pyongyang, North Korea. It is the international commercial division of the Mansudae Art Studio. As of August 2011, it had earned an estimated U ...

, a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

n firm. It is one of four major public works Mansudae constructed in Namibia, the other three being Okahandja Military Museum, a new State House and the Independence Memorial Museum.

Location and description

The Heroes' Acre monument is situated south of Windhoek on the B1 national road to Rehoboth. It is built as a symmetric

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed '' polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two ...

with a marble obelisk and a bronze statue of the Unknown Soldier at its centre. The site contains parade grounds and a

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap al ...

for 5000 people. The burial site consists of 174 tombs, not all of which are occupied.

Honored heroes

At inauguration nine national heroes and heroines were identified. For each of them a tombstone with name and picture has been erected, although they are not buried here. The nine national heroes are: # Kahimemua Nguvauva (1850–1896), Chief of the Ovambanderu, was wounded May 1896 in the Battle of Sturmfeld and after his surrender executed by the Germans # Nehale Lya Mpingana (died 1908), King of

Ondonga Ondonga is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia. Its capital is Ondangwa, and the kingdom's palace is at Onambango. Its people call themselves ''Aandonga''. They speak the Ndonga dialect. The Ondonga kingd ...

, defeated the settlers of the Dorsland Trek in 1886, and German colonial forces at Fort Namutoni in 1904 # Samuel Maharero (1856–1923), Paramount Chief of the

Herero people The Herero ( hz, Ovaherero) are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. There were an estimated 250,000 Herero people in Namibia in 2013. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, t ...

, led the uprisings against German colonialism that resulted in the Herero and Namaqua War of 1904–1907 # Hendrik Witbooi (1830–1905), chief of the ǀKhowesin and fighter against the colonial oppression of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

German South West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

Jacob Morenga Jacob Morenga, also Jakob, Jacobus, Marengo, and Marenga, known as the "black Napoleon", (1875 – 20 September 1907) was an important figure in Namibia, then the German colony of German South West Africa. He was chief leader in the insurrection ag ...

(1875–1907), used the fortress of

ǁKhauxaǃnas ǁKhauxaǃnas (Khoekhoegowab: ''passively defend people from an enemy'', Afrikaans / Dutch name Schans Vlakte: ''fortified valley'') is an uninhabited village with a ruined fortress in south-eastern Namibia, east of the Great Karas Mountains. It ...

to wage a guerrilla war against the '' Schutztruppe'' of Imperial Germany # Mandume Ya Ndemufayo (1894–1917), last king of the Kwanyama, led his people into battles with South African colonial forces Order out of Chaos: Mandume Ya Ndemufayo and Oral History
by Patrica Hayes in the

Journal of Southern African Studies The ''Journal of Southern African Studies'' is an international publication which covers research on the Southern African region, focussing on Angola, Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, ...

, 19.1, March 1993] # Iipumbu Ya Tshilongo (1875–1959), King of the Uukwambi and strong nationalist, resisted European

cultural influence Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylo ...

exercised via the establishment of mission stations and administrative outposts # Anna Mungunda (1910s–1959), protester against the forced eviction from Windhoek's Old Location in 1959. Set the car of a high-ranking administrator alight and was shot dead in response. # Hosea Kutako (1870–1970), Paramount Chief of the Herero and petitioner to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

for an independent Namibia

Others

In later years, several additional people have been declared national heroes, and buried here. These are: *

Dimo Hamaambo Lieutenant General Mweukefina Kulaumone Jerobeam Dimo Hamaambo (27 October 1932 – 8 September 2002) was a Namibian military commander in both the Namibian War of Independence as a SWAPO member and in independent Namibia as the Chief of Defen ...

(1932–2002), served as the second commander of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia * Maxton Joseph Mutongulume (1932–2004), founding member of the

Ovamboland People's Congress The Ovamboland People's Organization (OPO) was a nationalist organization that existed between 1959 and 1960 in South West Africa (now present day Namibia). The aim of the organization was to end the South African colonial administration, and th ...

and long-term

SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...

functionary and Central Committee member * Markus Kooper (1918–2005), petitioner to the

* Mose Penaani Tjitendero (1943–2006), first speaker of

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

* Richard Kapelwa Kabajani (1943–2007), former cabinet minister and ambassador to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

John Pandeni John Alphons Pandeni (30 July 1950 – 14 March 2008) was a Namibian politician and trade unionist. A member of SWAPO, Pandeni was Minister of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development at the time of his death in 2008. Early li ...

(1950–2008), prisoner of Robben Island and later Namibian Minister * Peter Tsheehama (1941–2010), People's Liberation Army of Namibia commander and Chief of Namibian Intelligence *

John ya Otto Nankudhu John ya Otto Nankudhu (1933–2011, nom de guerre: ''Koshiwanda'', the surname is sometimes also spelled Nankugu) was a Namibian guerrilla, army officer and politician. He was the commander of the forces of the People's Liberation Army of Nami ...

(1933–2011), People's Liberation Army of Namibia commander and Robben Island inmate * Frederick Matongo (1946 or 1947–2013) Lieutenant Colonel of the Namibian Defence Force, early participant of the Namibian War of Independence against

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

* Andrew Intamba (1947–2014), first director of the Namibia Central Intelligence Service, and Namibian ambassador to Egypt * Mzee Kaukungwa (1919–2014), veteran of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia and founding member of SWAPO. *

Gerson Veii Gerson Hitjevi Veii (18 January 1939 – 14 February 2015) was a Namibian politician. Veii was founder member of the South West Africa National Union (SWANU) and its president from 1968 to 1982. After Namibian independence he was the first govern ...

(1939–2015), founding member of the South West Africa National Union (

SWANU The South West Africa National Union (SWANU) is a Namibian political party founded in 1959. Most of its members came from the Herero people, while fellow independence movement SWAPO was mostly an Ovambo party. The party's president is Charle ...

). Veii is the first opposition party member to be accorded a hero's burial *

Hidipo Hamutenya Hidipo Livius Hamutenya (17 June 1939 – 6 October 2016) was a Namibian politician. A long time leading member of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Hamutenya was a member of the Cabinet of Namibia from independence in 1990 to ...

(1939–2016), former cabinet minister, long-time leading member of SWAPO, founder of RDP. * Andimba Toivo ya Toivo (1924–2017), anti-apartheid activist, politician and political prisoner. Founding member of SWAPO. * Theo-Ben Gurirab (1938–2018), former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

, former Speaker of the

, veteran diplomat of SWAPO. There are further National Heroes of Namibia without any connection to Heroe's Acre, namely: * Niko Bessinger * David Moses Meroro *

John Mutwa Lieutenant General John Sinvula Mutwa (23 September 1960 – 17 June 2021) was a Namibian military officer whose last appointment was as chief of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF). He was appointed the commander of the Namibian Army in 2011, and ...

Seven veterans of the Namibian liberation struggle were reburied on Heroes' Acre in 2014: *

Peter Nanyemba Peter Eneas Nanyemba, (also known as Ndilimani Lyomukunda Wamupolo), (1935–1983) was a commander of the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) during the South African Border War. Nanyemba worked as a diplomat, representing SWAPO in Botswan ...

* Walde Homateni Timoteus Kaluenya * Isak "Pondo" Shikongo * Natalia Ndahambelela Shikangala Mavulu * Augustus "McNamara" Nghaamwa * Putuse Appolus * Lineekela Kalenga On 26 August 2015, Namibia's Heroes' Day, three more veterans were reburied on Heroes' Acre: *

Moses ǁGaroëb Moses Mague ǁGaroëb (14 April 1942, in Arixas near Mariental – 19 September 1997, in Windhoek) was a Namibian politician, founding member of SWAPO, and member of SWAPO's Politburo and Central Committee. During his political career, ǁGaroë ...

Peter Mweshihange Peter Mweshihange (5 May 1930 – 20 March 1998) was a Namibian revolutionary and guerrilla leader, and after Namibian independence, a politician and diplomat. He was the Namibia's first Minister of Defence from 1990 to 1995, and first ambassa ...

* Anton Lubowski

Construction controversy

, a company from

was given a N$60 million contract from Namibia to build the monument. The contract was awarded without any

competitive tendering Best Value was government policy in the United Kingdom affecting the provision of public services in England and Wales. In Wales, Best Value is known as the Wales Programme for Improvement. A statutory duty of Best Value applies in Scotland.Audi ...

process, and eventually the construction cost doubled. The non-transparent contracting of foreign manual labour has been criticised by corruption watchdog '' insight Namibia''. The memorial has been described as "monstrous" and its erection was speculated to "reveal a lack of African self-confidence". The statue of the Unknown Soldier resembles the physical features of

Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma, (; born 12 May 1929) is a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first President of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and the first ...

, Namibia's founding president and ultimately the initiator of its erection. In May 2005, a report in ''

The Namibian ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' noted that Heroes Acre was "already showing signs of decay". In particular, a bronze statue of a soldier had suffered damage, as had the plinth on which it stood. Some of the gold-coloured letters forming an inscription on the plinth were broken or missing, and the letters were "made of a cement-like substance, which had been painted gold and then glued to the plinth".

References

{{coord, -22.6638, 17.0783, display=title Buildings and structures in Windhoek Buildings and structures completed in 2002 Mansudae Overseas Projects Military history of Namibia Military of Namibia * Cemeteries in Namibia Monuments and memorials in Namibia 2002 establishments in Namibia

Location and description

Honored heroes

Others

Construction controversy

See also

References