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Martin Luther - Swakopmund's Steam Ox
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Woermann Line |
Offloading surf-boats at Swakopmund |
A 20 span ox-wagon |
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Getting The Goods To The Hinterland: By the mid 1890s the
beach at Swakopmund had become the busy landing place for all of the
supplies and goods coming into the new colony. The German authorities
had decided that Windhoek should be the capital, but it lay over three
hundred kilometres inland. Teams of oxen hauled laden wagons fitted with
specially widened rimmed wheels when crossing the sandy areas of the Namib Desert. As protection for their hooves when trekking over the rocky Khomas Hochland
the oxen's hooves were fitted with iron shoes
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Livestock being unloaded |
Perished oxen at the side of the Bay Road |
Iron ox-shoes |
Wide rimmed wheels |
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The Cost Of Freighting Goods To Windhoek: A new wagon cost 2000 Marks and an ox 80 120 Mark. A transport
wagon could load
between four and five tons, and the freight rate from the coast to
Windhoek was 20 Mark per 50 kg. In 1896 alone over 880 ox-wagons made
the trek from Swakopmund
to Windhoek.
The journey would take
between two and three weeks and the conditions under which the animals
laboured were often pitiful. The trail soon became littered with the
skeletons of those that succumbed to the harsh conditions. As early as
1891 the German administrators drafted traffic regulations instructing
those settlers who farmed along the route to make water and feed
provisions for the animals. Out-spanning along the roadside was not
allowed, and any oxen that died had to be buried immediately and at a
depth of at least two feet to avoid plague. Of those oxen that survived
these arduous journeys, up to three months was needed to recover them to
a condition where they might be considered fit to work again.
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 Martin Luther
was proclaimed a
National Monument
on 21-03-1975
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Martin Luther with its wagons |
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The Innovative Lt. Edmund Troost: At this early stage of the settlement the authorities had not been able
to find a satisfactory alternative to the situation, but one man did try and it is only
fitting that his story be told. First Lieutenant Edmund Troost of the Imperial Schutztruppe was a man
who may have been concerned by the plight of these animals. He also had
a keen interest in the business of transport and owned a small vessel of
324 tons that shipped goods from Cape Town to the port of Swakopmund. At this time
there were no immediate plans to build a railway, so in 1896 while on
leave in Germany he purchased a steam traction engine with three wagons
from the firm of Fr. Dehne in Halberstadt. Lieutenant
Troost returned to Swakopmund in the later months of 1896 with his machine.
Swakopmund had no natural deep-water harbour and the practice was that
the goods would be lowered from the ships onto surf boats or rafts, and
so transported through the high South Atlantic rollers to the beach.
After careful consideration it was decided that the steam engine was
possibly too heavy, weighing an estimated 9tons, and too valuable to
attempt this method. The ship sailed on to British controlled
Walvis Bay where dock-side
cranes and better
unloading facilities were available, and the steam locomotive was
brought safely ashore.
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A picnic with Martin |
Martin abandoned |
Lt. Troost's petrol driven 'trucks' |
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Lieutenant Troost was then
summonsed to Cape Town on urgent business, and did not return for over
four months. By this time the engineerıs contract had expired and the
man could not be convinced to stay in the colony. He returned to Germany
before divulging any of the techniques required to operate the machine.
Eventually a man was found who offered help. He was an American
prospector gold miner who had some experience of working with steam
engines. He and a small team managed to fire up the engine and must have
presented a strange and wondrous sight as they set off on the
thirty-kilometre journey to German
Swakopmund. The route was a long and
difficult one as the engine kept sinking in the soft sands. The water
needed for the engine was expensive costing 30 Mark per 1000 litter and
had to be brought along with the fuel by pack mules from
Swakopmund.
Lengths of wood along with stones had to be placed under the wheels when
encountering soft sand areas, and draft animals and
men toiled for three months before the engine finally puffed and
trundled its way into Swakopmund.
Lieutenant Troost wrote of his experience with the steam
engine, of the problems encountered with, poor quality water,
inexperienced drivers, inadequate maintenance owing to a lack of technical experience. Along
with these the calculated operating costs to transport loads from
Swakopmund to
Windhoek were considerably higher than that of the oxen
drawn wagons. He decided that this method of transport was not suited
to the conditions of the Namib. He continued with his transport
exercise and then imported two petrol driven vehicles that could travel up
to speeds of 20km/hr. One made one successful journey to Windhoek towing
trailers carrying a total 20-ton load. The rear trailer was equipped
with a sand anchor for emergency braking. The operating costs of these machines was also more
expensive that oxen wagons.
The Coming Of The Railroad: Troostıs attempts to introduce mechanized transport to the country had
not gone without notice. The Governor, Major Leutwein met with Troost
and then sent him to Germany to make arrangements for the purchase of a
narrow gauge rail system for the colony. Lieutenant Edmund
Troostıs innovation and contribution to the introduction of mechanized
transport should be recognized in a positive light in the development of
early Southwest Africa.
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Uncared for |
Martin Luther being lifted into position |
Martin's new home |
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The Steam-Ox
laid in the
desert deteriorating and became a passing interest for visitors to the
town. In 1973 the Municipality of
Swakopmund decided that the engine
should be partly refurbished, following which 'Martin' was
declared a national monument and even appeared on a stamp in 1975
that brought an amount of international fame. However, the corrosive mists
once again took their toll and by the year 2000 the Martin Luther had
lost its funnel and was in need of attention. The Namibia Institute
of Mining and Technology, along with the financial support of some
local businesses, made extensive repairs to the Martin Luther. In
December 2004 The Martin Luther was returned to its original resting
place and a protective housing was built around the steam engine.
As you are arriving on the
outskirts of Swakopmund you will see the new housing for the Martin
Luther. Pull over and pay 'him' a visit.
Footnote: In consideration of the distance of the desert to be
crossed one is left to ponder as to exactly where the engine was to get
suitable water and fuel if it ever had set out on that arduous journey
to far off Windhoek
Acknowledgements and further reading: A1, H8, H11,H12, M3, P1, P2,
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Local Area Attractions and Articles
of associated interest
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►
Swakopmund Walk-About-Tour 1
►
Swakopmund Walk-About-Tour 2
►
►
Swakopmund a History 1
► Swakopmund a History 2
► Swakopmund
Town
►Swakopmund
Mole
► Swakopmund Jetty
► Swakopmund
Kaserne
► Moon-Landscape
► Welwitschia-Plants
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Did You Know ?
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About the early steam-engines in
Namibia.
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The Damaraland Guano
Company Ltd. exploited the guano deposits at Cape Cross and
established the first rail transport system in Namibia as early
as 1895.
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The first German
locomotive was brought into the country in October 1897, and was
used for the construction of the rail line from Swakopmund to
Windhoek.
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