Lüderitz
—  town  —
View of Lüderitz
Coat of arms
Motto: Challenge, Innovation, Prosperity
Lüderitz Location in Namibia
Coordinates: 26°38′45″S 15°9′14″E / 26.64583°S 15.15389°E / -26.64583; 15.15389Coordinates: 26°38′45″S 15°9′14″E / 26.64583°S 15.15389°E / -26.64583; 15.15389
Country	Namibia
Region	Karas Region
Constituency	Lüderitz Constituency
Established	1883
Government
• Mayor	Hambelela Suzan Ndjaleka[1]
Population (2001)[2]
• Total	13,295

Lüderitz is a harbour town^[3] in south-west Namibia, lying on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island.

Overview[link]

The town was founded in 1883 when Heinrich Vogelsang purchased Angra Pequena and some of the surrounding land on behalf of Adolf Lüderitz, a Hanseat from Bremen in Germany, from the local Nama chief. Lüderitz began its life as a trading post, with other activities in fishing and guano-harvesting. In 1909, after the discovery of diamonds nearby, Lüderitz enjoyed a sudden surge of prosperity. Today, however, diamonds are mostly found elsewhere and offshore, and Lüderitz has lost a lot of this interest.

The harbour has a very shallow rock bottom, making it unusable for modern ships; this led to Walvis Bay becoming the centre of the Namibian shipping industry. Recently, however, the addition of a new quay has allowed larger fishing vessels the dock at Lüderitz. The town has also re-styled itself in an attempt to lure tourists to the area, which includes a new waterfront area for shops and offices.

The town is known for its colonial architecture, including some Art Nouveau work, and for wildlife including seals, penguins, flamingos and ostriches. It is also home to a museum and to the Lüderitz Speed Challenge, and formerly lay at the end of a railway line to Keetmanshoop.

Lüderitz was the starting point for explorer and sailor Amyr Klink's successful solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, rowing for 101 days all the way to the Brazilian coast with no other form of propulsion, in 1984.^[4]

In April 2009, an oil spill from an off-coast oil tanker spilled, risking hundreds of African Penguins and other flora and fauna.

Ghost towns[link]

Just outside of Lüderitz lies the ghost town of Kolmanskop. This previously bustling diamond town is now abandoned, and fights a constant struggle against being buried under the shifting sand dunes of the Namib desert.

Another ghost town called Elizabeth Bay lies 30 km to the south.

Media[link]

Lüderitz has a local monthly newspaper, Buchter News. The paper, which was started as a source of free English-language reading material, is run by volunteers from the British gap year charity Project Trust. Recently the newspaper went online [1] and new initiatives like a forum for the community [2] are set-up by the volunteers.

View of Felsenkirche and Lüderitz

Conservation[link]

The coastline in the area is recognised by Bird Life and other global conservation groups as one of the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) for important coastal seabird breeding.

Mercury Island, Ichaboe Island, Halifax Island and the Possession Islands support the entire Namibian breeding population of Cape Gannets Morus Capensis, 96% of the Namibian population of the endangered African Penguin Spheniscus Demersus, and nearly one quarter of the global breeding population of Crowned Cormorants Phalacrocorax coronatus.^[5]

Approximately 80% of the global population of the endangered Bank Cormorant Phalacrocorax neglectus breeds on Mercury Island and in the Ichaboe Islands.

Climate[link]

Lüderitz has a mild desert climate (BWn, according to the Köppen climate classification), with pleasant temperatures throughout the year. The average annual precipitation is 23 mm (1 in).

Landmarks[link]

• Felsenkirche (English: Rock Church) on Diamond Hill, a church in vertical gothic style consecrated in 1912. After the diamond rush of 1908 and the completion of the railway line to Keetmanshoop Lüderitz became permanently home to a significant white population. As a result a number of churches were built. Felsenkirche, one of the oldest Lutheran Churches in Namibia is a national monument since 1978.^[7]

• 

  Goerke Haus

• 

  Kapps-Ballsaal with Felsenkirche and Goerke Haus in background

• 

  Bergstraße

See also[link]

Lüderitz is home to the Lüderitz Speed Challenge, the only international sporting event held in the town. This is an annual month-long speed sailing event held in the last quarter of the year under the auspices of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC).

Transport[link]

• Railway stations in Namibia

Construction of a new port at Shearwater Bay, 30 km south of Lüderitz, has been proposed for the export of coal from Botswana with a 1600 km railway connecting the two.^[8]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lüderitz

• The local newspaper of Lüderitz
• The Lüderitz forum
• Lüderitz information in an online Namibia guidebook
• [3] Port has 8m draft.