The former administrative headquarters of German South West Africa have been given a new mandate as the Namibian parliament building. As a fitting homage to the bureaucracy of government, the name of the building means ‘Ink Palace’, in honour of all the ink spent on typically excessive official paperwork.
The building is remarkable mainly for its construction from indigenous materials. The surrounding gardens, which were laid out in the 1930s, include an olive grove and a proper bowling green. In the front, have a look at Namibia’s first post-independence monument, a bronze-cast statue of the Herero chief Hosea Kutako, who was best known for his vehement opposition to South African rule.
