Out with the old

A little-noticed reminder of the Windhoek of long bygone days has had to make way for a new development in one of the city’s oldest streets, Garten Street, over the past week.

With building work starting on a three-and-a-half storey office building that will rise on a previously unused plot of land at the corner of Garten and Dr A Bernard May Streets over the next six months, an old water trough that, according to some people, was used as a drinking place for camels during the early colonial history of Namibia, has been partly demolished. According to architect Claud Bosch, who is involved in the construction of the new building, the plan is to preserve the remaining part of the trough and to move it to the entrance of the new building.Bosch said last week that he had been in consultation with the National Monuments Council about the trough, but that they could not find any records to show that they considered it to be of particular historical importance.In addition, said Bosch, as far as he could establish, it appeared that the trough might not be as old as some thought, and might have been built for cattle that gathered at Windhoek’s old ox wagon outspan spot, where the Ausspannplatz is situated today.From the look of the cement on the insides of the trough, he added, it appeared to him that the trough had not been in use for a long time – possibly because the water that came from hot water springs in the area was quite sulphurous and thus not suitable for animals.Historic maps of that part of Windhoek that could be found in the National Archive of Namibia – including ones dating back to the early 1920s and another from as far back as 1896, did not indicate the existence of a water installation at the spot.Windhoek archaeologist John Kinahan added on Thursday that the look of the trough and the materials it was made of would prompt him to dispel the rather romantic idea that it had once been a gathering place for camels.He said the type of cement used had become available in Namibia only about 50 years ago, so he would guess that the construction might in fact not be much older than that.Kinahan also raised another possibility – that the trough might have been part of a water reticulation system for the Government gardens that used to be situated in the Garten Street area.However, in the absence of concrete documentation about the history of this weathered construction, its past just may remain the subject of speculation only.According to architect Claud Bosch, who is involved in the construction of the new building, the plan is to preserve the remaining part of the trough and to move it to the entrance of the new building.Bosch said last week that he had been in consultation with the National Monuments Council about the trough, but that they could not find any records to show that they considered it to be of particular historical importance.In addition, said Bosch, as far as he could establish, it appeared that the trough might not be as old as some thought, and might have been built for cattle that gathered at Windhoek’s old ox wagon outspan spot, where the Ausspannplatz is situated today.From the look of the cement on the insides of the trough, he added, it appeared to him that the trough had not been in use for a long time – possibly because the water that came from hot water springs in the area was quite sulphurous and thus not suitable for animals.Historic maps of that part of Windhoek that could be found in the National Archive of Namibia – including ones dating back to the early 1920s and another from as far back as 1896, did not indicate the existence of a water installation at the spot.Windhoek archaeologist John Kinahan added on Thursday that the look of the trough and the materials it was made of would prompt him to dispel the rather romantic idea that it had once been a gathering place for camels.He said the type of cement used had become available in Namibia only about 50 years ago, so he would guess that the construction might in fact not be much older than that.Kinahan also raised another possibility – that the trough might have been part of a water reticulation system for the Government gardens that used to be situated in the Garten Street area.However, in the absence of concrete documentation about the history of this weathered construction, its past just may remain the subject of speculation only.