# Reiterdenkmal Unveiled in Windhoek (27 January 1912)

URL: https://allhistories.com/namibia/timeline/1912-reiterdenkmal-unveiled-in-windhoek
Location: Windhoek, Namibia
Themes: main-event

The Reiterdenkmal, or Equestrian Monument, was unveiled in Windhoek on 27 January 1912, the emperor's 53rd birthday. Designed by the Berlin sculptor Adolf Kürle and privately financed, it combined a 4.5-metre bronze rider with a 5-metre granite plinth. It honoured German soldiers and civilians who died in the Herero and Nama wars of 1904–08 and the 1908 Kalahari Expedition. The inscription praised "brave German warriors that died for emperor and empire". Critics argue that the monument promotes German superiority and records deaths one-sidedly, even though Herero and Damara people lost about fifty times as many lives, according to Wikipedia. One scholar describes it as a display of colonial power meant to signal "the longevity of their rule". In 1959 activists covered the rider's head with a bag, and in 2008 51 wooden crosses with Otjiherero names were placed around it. The statue was dismantled in 2009 and re-erected in front of the Alte Feste in 2010. On 25 December 2013 it was lifted from its plinth and moved into the courtyard of the Alte Feste, where it remains in storage. At this point in the timeline (1912), Theodor Seitz (28 Aug 1910 – 9 Jul 1915) held the post of Governor in the German colony of South West Africa; Samuel Maharero (1890 – 1917) was Paramount Chief of the Herero.

## Why it matters
The monument became a focus of debate over colonial memory and was removed from its public plinth in 2013.

Ruler at the Time: [Theodor Seitz](https://allhistories.com/namibia/rulers/theodor-seitz-1910)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Reiterdenkmal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reiterdenkmal)
- [Wikipedia — Windhoek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windhoek)
- [Wikipedia — Herero and Nama genocide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herero_and_Nama_genocide)