German Namibians (German: Deutschnamibier) are a community of people descended from ethnic German colonists who settled in present-day Namibia. In 1883, the German trader Adolf Lüderitz bought (from a local chief) what would become the southern coast of Namibia and founded the city of Lüderitz. The German government, eager to gain overseas possessions, annexed the territory soon after, naming it South-West Africa (German: Deutsch-Südwestafrika). Small numbers of Germans subsequently immigrated there, many coming as soldiers (German: Schutztruppe), traders, diamond miners, or colonial officials. In 1915, during the course of World War I, Germany lost Southwest Africa (see History of Namibia); after the war, the former colony became a South African mandate. The German settlers were allowed to remain and, until independence in 1990, German remained an official language of the territory.
Read more about German Namibians: Language, Communities, Decline
Famous quotes containing the word german:
“Frankly, I do not like the idea of conversations to define the term “unconditional surrender.” ... The German people can have dinned into their ears what I said in my Christmas Eve speech—in effect, that we have no thought of destroying the German people and that we want them to live through the generations like other European peoples on condition, of course, that they get rid of their present philosophy of conquest.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)