Do you know, Karl Otto Ludwig Klaus Dierks (19 February 1936 – 17 March 2005) was a German-born Namibian deputy government minister, a transport planner and civil engineer in Namibia. He was also an academic which provides many insights into Namibias history and its engineering past. He also prepared the Chronology of Namibian History, on which the following essay is based. His website can be found at https://www.klausdierks.com/.
1. Pre‑historical Period to c. 1486 (Middle Stone Age to ca. 1200 AD)
Dierks begins with the sparse archaeological evidence of Namibia’s earliest inhabitants during the southern African Middle Stone Age, roughly until 1200 AD. He notes copper-smelting traditions in the Matchless Mine and Otavi Mountains that testify to early mining and trading activity, long before written records emerged .
2. Period of Explorers, Hunters, and Traders (1486–1800)
This period marks the arrival of European explorers and traders from about 1486 onward. While formal colonial presence was absent, trade networks and early European contact began shaping local dynamics. Ethnic communities such as the Ovambo and Ovaherero were already present and their ancestors likely migrated from central/eastern Africa centuries earlier .
Guilliam Visagie, arriving around 1786, is recognized as the first white settler in today’s Namibia, establishing a farm near Keetmanshoop in the late 18th century.
3. Pre‑colonial / Missionaries Epoch (1805–1883)
Dierks divides the missionary era into arrival and political interference. Early Rhenish and Wesleyan missionaries appear in the early 19th century. Missionary activity slowly expanded, resulting in growing European influence over local leadership and inter-ethnic relations by the mid-1800s .
4. Colonial Period: German Rule (1884–1914)
4.1 Initial Occupation (1884–1889)
Germany formally declared its protectorate over South West Africa in 1884. Early treaties, infrastructure establishment, and missionary expansion accompanied the occupation .
4.2 Rising Resistance (1890–1903)
Named the era of “active resistance,” local leaders including Samuel Maharero and Hendrik Witbooi fought back against German rule. Multiple uprisings (nineteen from various communities) set the stage for conflict during this period .
4.3 Genocide and Consolidation (1904–1906)
The conflict culminated in the genocide of the Ovaherero and Nama. German forces violently suppressed resistance. Subsequently, Germany consolidated control and resumed colonial administration until the outbreak of World War I .
5. Colonial Period: South African Rule (1915–1990)
5.1 Military Rule & League of Nations Mandate (1915–1945)
After Germany’s defeat in World War I, South Africa administered the territory under League of Nations mandate status. The new administration extended apartheid laws from South Africa into South West Africa.
5.2 UN Trusteeship Era (1946–1956)
Post-World War II, the United Nations proposed placing Namibia under trusteeship. South Africa resisted and instead extended its own apartheid policies further, preventing substantive progress toward independence.
5.3 Anti‑apartheid Struggle (1956–1974)
Organized resistance intensified. The Old Location uprising in Windhoek (10 December 1959) saw police open fire, killing protestors and galvanising the broader independence movement. SWAPO emerged as the primary liberation movement.
5.4 Interim Administrations & Independence Road (1975–1987)
South Africa carried out a series of interim administrations—including the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference (1975–1977) and formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity in the mid‑1980s—while excluding SWAPO. These efforts failed to gain legitimacy or accelerate independence.
6. Independence Process to National Sovereignty (1988–1990)
Following sustained internal resistance, SWAPO-led diplomatic and military campaigns achieved UN-backed transition. Namibia formally gained independence on 21 March 1990. Walvis Bay and nearby offshore islands remained separate until reintegration in 1994, but Dierks’s chronology ends at 2000, covering the first decade of independence.
7. First Decade of Independence (1990–2000)
In this period, Namibia consolidated state institutions, managed national reintegration, and pursued development policies. As Dierks himself was active in government during these years, the chronology includes substantial detail on political frameworks, infrastructure projects, and institution-building up to 2000.
Conclusion
Klaus Dierks’s Chronology of Namibian History offers a carefully structured, year-by-year account spanning from early human activity through to the first ten years of independent Namibia. His methodical framework including precolonial cultures, colonial eras under Germany and South Africa, liberation struggle, and post‑1990 development provides a robust platform for understanding Namibia’s complex history—even where early data is fragmentary.
