Seeheim

Seeheim is a small settlement at the Fish River in southern Namibia, 35 kilometers southwest of Keetmanshoop on the National Road B4 to Lüderitz.

History

Seeheim was founded in 1896 as a base of the fort and the mountains on the Schlangkopf were theater of war in Namakrieg of 1906. Northeast of Seeheim is the 1894 also built by the colonial force Fort Naiams, today only a ruin, but which is classified as a cultural monument.

During the construction of Lüderitz railway the German colonial railway construction and operating company reached the place in 1907 and built the Fish River Bridge, the first railway bridge over the Fish River. A year later, Seeheim was a " railway junction ", as the branch line was opened after Kalkfontein -South, which was connected to the local rail network during the First World War by the South African side. Seeheim existed at the time of the diamond rush in German South-West Africa mainly consists of two hotels, because travelers from Windhoek to Luderitz had to spend the night here, to wait for the connecting train. During the 1940s and 1950s, the city grew into a respectable community with churches and schools, but orphaned gradually thereafter. As 1974, the National Road B4 got a new route and no longer led directly by Seeheim, Seeheim Hotel closed with the last company of the place.

Seeheim today

The Seeheim hotel re- opened in 2004, the hotel owners also operate a small cabinet making. On the railway line to Lüderitz there is no passenger. The track is currently being rebuilt between Aus and Lüderitz, the opening was planned for 2012 - a new date is not known.