Our Latest Books
Painted Stories
A Guide to the Rock Art of AiAiba
von Peter Breunig
228 pages • 2023 • ISBN 978-99945-76-84-5 • 170 x 240 mm • Namibia Scientific Society/Kuiseb Publishers
People interested in rock art often ask the same three questions: How old is it? Who created it? What was its purpose? Archaeologist Peter Breunig investigated the rock art of AiAiba (Anibib farm) in the Erongo Mountains, one of the richest rock art areas of Namibia. In Painted Stories he closely examines those rock paintings, using them as an example of the prehistoric treasure trove which can tell us about the world view of Namibia’s ancient hunter-gatherers. While renowned archaeologist Henri Breuil counted 344 paintings in the mid-20th century, Breunig, using modern digital methods, makes the invisible visible and recorded 4,914 paintings in 208 sites, 14 times the number known in Breuil’s day. He addresses the above questions and gives valuable insight into the representational world of Namibia’s prehistoric peoples in a fascinating reader-friendly way.
This book is extremely important and valuable because, as Breunig writes, “there is a simple reason for urgency in rock art research. Rock art is exposed to natural and human influences which are inexorably leading to its disappearance. In many cases on AiAiba, the paintings are already so faded that they can barely be perceived with the naked eye. For now, they can still be recovered using digital technology. But here, too, we will eventually reach a point beyond which they are lost forever.” The many photographs, digital drawings and descriptions in this book will preserve the rock paintings for generations to come.
ǂoa-ka-gyani
Eine biografische Erzählung über das Leben des Berufsjägers Volker Grellmann
von Wolfgang Brune
364 Seiten • photos & maps • 2023 • ISBN 978-99945-76-83-8/978-99945-76-85-2 • 148 x 210 mm • Namibia Scientific Society/Kuiseb Publishers
Dieses Buch erzählt von den außergewöhnlichen Abenteuern und Erfahrungen eines Mannes, dessen Tatkraft und Zähigkeit dazu beigetragen haben, die Grundlagen für die professionelle Jagd und einen nachhaltigen Natur- und Wildschutz in Namibia zu legen.
Volker Grellmann war zehn Jahre alt, als er mit seiner Familie kurz nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg nach Namibia auswanderte. Dieses Land sollte seine Heimat werden. Er machte eine Kürschner-Ausbildung, um eines Tages das Geschäft seiner Mutter zu übernehmen, doch schon bald drängte es ihn in den Busch, zur Jagd und zum Naturschutz. Zahlreiche Jäger und Gäste aus fernen Ländern, unter anderem den berühmten deutschen Boxer Max Schmeling, führte er auf den Pfaden der Wildnis. Er wurde einer der ersten und besten professionellen Jagdanbieter Namibias, Schutzpatron der San-Buschleute in den ihm anvertrauten Jagdgebieten sowie engagierter Naturschützer im Damaraland, Buschmannland und Kavango. Volker Grellmann war temperamentvoll, aber auch verletzlich und verletzbar. Autor Wolfgang Brune beschreibt seine Erfolge und auch seine Niederlagen und setzt ihm ein Denkmal als einem der »Großen« im aktiv gelebten Jagd- und Naturschutz.
In Times of Pandemic
13 short stories from Namibia
by the Goethe Institut
148 p. • 2023 • ISBN 978-99945-76-82-1 • 148 x 210 mm
This collection of thirteen short stories distilled from a competition call-out from the Goethe Institute Windhoek to share experiences of lockdown and the pandemic through creative writing, is both wide-ranging and thought-provoking.
The issues dealt with include psychological trauma, identity, disruption to family life, sexual abuse, loss, fear, and grief but also endurance, hope and coming through stronger. Many of the stories are written from a young female perspective, and it is as though the reader is allowed to page through an intimate journal. Two genre fiction stories further enrich the experience of good and evil during the pandemic.
This anthology gives a deep insight into the loss and grief experienced by individuals and families during the pandemic in Namibia, and yet there is a sense of survival against the odds, renewed identity and resilience.—An enjoyable showcase of the raw talent of several new authors in Namibia alongside the sophisticated writing of experienced authors.
Rocky Point
Skeleton Coast—Namibia
by Peter Bridgeford
140 pages • 2022 • ISBN 978-99945-76-80-7 • 148 x 210 mm • Namibia Scientific Society/Kuiseb Publishers
Rocky Point is a small, isolated rock outcrop on the sandy Skeleton Coast of Namibia and the most prominent landmark between Möwe Bay and the Kunene River 250 km further north. It is hard to reach from overland, via the sea or by plane—a fact that has added to its mystique over the years. And yet, explorers, hunters, traders, scientists, refugees, stranded ship passengers, soldiers and even politicians have passed or visited Rocky Point during the past centuries.
The events chronicled in this book, illustrated with numerous fascinating photos, start in 1486 with the early explorations of the Portuguese. They tell us about the many adventures of hunger, thirst, despair, death, heroism, sacrifice and also joy and excitement on this wind-swept desert until today—among them the stranding of the Dunedin Star in 1942 near Rocky Point and the almost impossible rescue operation of 63 people, including 29 women and three babies; the rescue of Angolan refugees in 1975, who had fled from the civil war and crossed the Kunene River in a large convoy; and while the inaccessibility of Rocky Point often led to disaster or frustration, it was ideal for consultations, away from the prying eyes of journalists, for example, when in March 1984, Prime Minister P.W. Botha of South Africa secretly met Dr Jonas Savimbi, President of UNITA there.
Berthold Deimling
Ein umstrittener Kolonialoffizier
von Hans Hilpisch und Hans-Joachim Liedtke
260 Seiten • 2022 • 978-99945-76-81-4 • 148 x 210 mm • Namibia Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft/Kuiseb Verlag
Sowohl während der Gefechte am Waterberg am 11. August 1904 als auch bei den Großen Karasbergen zu Beginn des Jahres 1905 legte der deutsche Kolonialoffizier Oberst Deimling immer wieder ein Verhalten an den Tag, das mit dem klaren militärischen Prinzip von Befehl und Gehorsam nicht zu vereinbaren war. Detailliert wird geschildert, wie er von Ungehorsam bis zur glatten Befehlsverweigerung alles tat, um seine eigenen Vorstellungen von Kriegführung durchzusetzen.
Warum es trotz dieses Verhaltens für ihn letztlich Lorbeer anstelle von Gitterstäben gab, wird in dieser Arbeit der beiden ehemaligen Berufsoffiziere der Bundeswehr, Hans Hilpisch und Hans-Joachim Liedtke, akribisch untersucht. Dabei wird letztlich deutlich, dass Deimlings Verhalten auch ein Beispiel für die Gratwanderungen darstellt, die sowohl Vorgesetzten als auch Untergebenen im Krieg oft genug damals wie heute abverlangt werden.
Schließlich stellen die Autoren auch ausführlich die Bewaffnung und Ausrüstung der Schutztruppe und – soweit vorhanden – der Herero und Nama vor. Auch die Probleme einer schnell aus allen Teilen des Reiches zusammengewürfelten Truppe, die zunächst weder Korpsgeist besaß noch ein hinreichendes Vertrauensverhältnis zwischen Vorgesetzten und Untergebenen entwickeln konnte, werden fachkundig beleuchtet.
The Hambukushu of Namibia’s Kavango East Region
A Comprehensive History
by Maria Fisch
496 p. • 2022 • ISBN 978-99945-76-78-4 • 170 x 240 mm • Namibia Scientific Society/Kuiseb Publishers
The Hambukushu of Namibia’s Kavango-East Region by Maria Fisch is the first ever comprehensive history of the Hambukushu people, covering a period of approximately 300 years.
The older history of the Hambukushu is partly based on extensive research material which Father Joseph Wüst gathered between 1921 and 1939 from elderly Hambukushu informants, who still possessed first-hand knowledge about their past.
The author takes the reader back to the Hambukushu’s original home at Mussuma, their sojourn at Ditomboro and along the Luyana and Mashi Rivers, and then describes their final settlement along the Kavango River around 1800 and up to recent times.
The book presents valuable information on all Hambukushu traditional leaders (hafumu) and the traditional leadership elite, including exact genealogical details, their alleged ability to make rain, and important events during their time.
Apart from the Hambukushu in Namibia, the book also describes the Hambukushu living in Angola, Botswana, and Zambia. The author discusses their relationship with other people of the region including the !Kung, Khwe, Balozi, and Batawana during the time of slave-trade and the rule of different colonial powers.
Since Roman Catholic missionaries played an instrumental role in shaping the lives of many Hambukushu, a large part of the book is devoted to their efforts in the fields of education, health care, and spiritual development.
This book is a must for anybody interested in this aspect of Namibian history.