Duwisib Castle
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Duwisib Castle a History
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Hansheinrich Von Wolf
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Hansheinrich Von Wolf was born in Dresden on 11th January 1873.
The son of Ernst Von Wolf who was a Major General in the Royal Saxon
Army. The Von Wolf family were a respected and noble Saxony family,
but Hans-Heinrich was not a Baron, as is often reported. In November 1890 he joined 1st
Royal Saxon Field Artillery Regiment No. 12 as an Ensign. In August
1891 he was promoted to Second Lieutenant. Hans-Heinrich traveled to
Egypt in 1896 where he traveled into the desert with a camel caravan.
He was maturing to be a most handsome man who stood 1.98 meters tall.
1898 saw his further promotion to First Lieutenant. In 1899 he was
detailed to the Military Equestrian Academy at Hanover. In 1900 he
served as Lieutenant with 4th Field Regiment No. 48 Mounted Section at Konigsbruck near Dresden. Later in the year he was returned to the
Military Equestrian Academy at Hanover as a Riding Instructor and in
1901 was promoted to Captain, 4th Field Regiment No. 48 Konigsbruck
near Dresden.
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The Gerturd Woermann
Beached north of
Swakopmund
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German South West Africa was plunged into a state of war in January 1904 when the Herero tribe
rose up against the German occupation of the country. The Nama tribe
also joined in the liberation struggle the following year. The
uprisings soon proved to be a serious threat to the German
settlers and military alike. The Colonial Military Force known as Schutztruppe suffered several early defeats. Far away in the Fatherland
young men were answering the call to Active Foreign Service and
Hans-Heinrich applied to be retired from the Royal Saxon Army and
at the age of 31 years volunteered for service in the Colony of German South West Africa by
mid October was appointed as Commander 2nd Reserve Battery in the Schutztruppe. On 26 October the steam ship
'Gertrud Woermann' sailed out of Hamburg carrying 25 Officers, 376
NCO's and men along with 300 horses. On 19 November the ship stranded
on the beache 10kms north of Swakopmund.
The Ship Vineta was close by and offered assistance. Von Wolf arrived in Swakopmund on 20
November from where he was quickly dispatched to Gibeon-Kranz, then
for a short time to Maltahohe, from where he again moved to serve at
Gochas as Commander 5th Battery. |
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Active Service: On 17 May 1905 Captain Von Wolf
leading a patrol consisting of 28 Schutztruppe were engaged in battle
at Kowes on the Auob River about 30kms south of Gochas. The enemy, the
Franzmann Hottentots were lead by Captain Simon Kopper, an experienced
bush fighter, and were a far superior force both in manpower and
weaponry. The German patrol soon lost several officers and cavalrymen
and it became apparent to Von Wolf that the most pragmatic action
would be that of a planned hasty withdrawal in order to avoid a total
disaster, leaving behind a field gun and weighty ammunition. German
soldiers or civilians who were taken prisoner by the native forces
were known to suffer from a slow and agonizing death. A following
enquiry exonerated the Captain of any misdeeds and he returned to
active duty where, on 25 September, he once again engaged in battle
with Simon Kopper's forces at Aubes - 15km south of Gochas, and again
at Zwartfontein, north of Gochas on 13 October. The Captain must have
performed his duties to the satisfaction of his superiors, for on 2
November 1905 he was awarded the Royal Prussian order of the Red
Eagle, 4th Class with Swords; and on 27 January 1906 - the Royal
Saxon order - Knight's Cross 1st Class with Swords.
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Jayta Von Wolf |
Return To Germany and
Marriage: On 16 April 1906 having received permission for home
leave after receiving wounds in action Hansheinrich sailed from
Swakopmund on the imperial mail steamer 'Professor Woermann'. The
beginning of October saw his retirement from the Schutztruppe and
rejoining his 'old' regiment in the Royal Saxon Army as Battery
Commander 2nd Field Artillery, Regiment No.28. The dashing young
officer returned from Colonial duties was a welcome addition to the
social circuit of Dresden where he was soon to become romantically
involved with the step daughter of the American Consul General. On 8
April 1907 Hansheinrich and Jayta Humphries were married, and on 25
April they departed from Hamburg on the mail ship Windhuk, bound for
Swakopmund - South West Africa. |
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Return to South West Africa:
On 25 May 1907 the newly wed couple arrived
at the port of Swakopmund where shortly after they boarded the train
to Windhoek and booked into the KaiserKrone Hotel. Hansheinrich,
though not a Baron by birth had a desire to become a Land Baron in the
fledgling Colony and made application to the Government to purchase
several farms within the of Duwisib totaling about 140,000
hectare. The application was treated with an amount of skepticism and
he was granted Schwarzschaf- Duwisib as two lots of land totaling
20,000 for which he paid an average of 40 pfennig per hectare. He
immediately submitted further application to purchase more land.
Duwisib Castle: The recent
experience of the native uprising from 1904 - 1907 and the remoteness
of the farm must have influenced the couple's decision as to the type
of home they wanted when they commissioned the well know South West
architect Wilhelm Sander to design for them a castle. Measuring 35 x
31 meters and built from locally quarried stone; equipped with heavy
reinforced doors and small windows it can be seen that the building
designed to withstand a siege. Sander incorporated the all of the
comforts of a modern house. The plumbing and sanitation fittings along
with steel and woodwork, cement and lighting all had to be shipped in
from Germany and then be transported from Luderitz a further 300kms by
oxen wagon. Hansheinrich and Jayta lived on-site in tents as did the
construction team. The society girl proved to be a perfect match for
the colonial military man, turned rancher, and settled into the outdoor life with ease.
They both took an active part with the construction of the building
and Hansheinrich planted the palm tress that can be seen in the
courtyard to this day. By mid year the castle was taking shape.
The small, but impressive 'knight's' entrance hall had
two fireplaces, a singer's gallery and beneath it a wine cellar. To the left
was a reception room and dining room. The master bedroom lay to the right of
the entrance hall and had a direct access to a bathroom that it shared with
one of the family bed rooms that was accessed from the rear courtyard.
Hanging on the east wall of the Knight's Hall are two beautiful examples of
a cavalry saber and a military dress sword that were presents from
his brother in law and are engraved ' Horst Von Metzsch S/L Hanheinrich
Von Wolf '
A Visit to Germany: The
land matter became protracted and the end of 1908 saw the couple back
in Germany lobbying the Imperial Colonial Office in Berlin for a
further 150,000 hectares of which the Government granted 30,000. The
Von Wolf's made use of this visit to choose a selection of suitable
furniture for their planned home at Duwisib.
Return to South West Africa:
On 17 March 1909 the mail ship Windhoek
sailed from Hamburg carrying the Von Wolf couple along with furniture
and building supplies for their new house. They disembarked at
Luderitz and trekked to Duwisib where considerable progress had been
made. Mid 1909 witnessed the opening celebrations of Duwisib Castle in
the form of a festival to which many of the colony's prominent
society attended.
Duiwisib Castle - The Farm: Throughout
the early years of the Colony horses and mules had been shipped in
through the ports of Luderitz and Swakopmund. Von Wolf saw the
Schutztruppe and the Colonial Police to be a lucrative market for
locally bred stock. By early November had stocked the farm with 95
Hereford cattle, 18 mules and donkeys, 600 Merino sheep, 10 pigs and
60 chicken. With his expert knowledge of horses he began to build his
breeding stock and brought in 72 horses of which 38 were mares of
value; 9 were thoroughbreds.
Hansheinrich also took an active
interest in local affairs and in 1909 was elected to the District
Council of Maltahohe and the 'Landesrat', an advisory assembly to the
Colonial Government.
The farm continued to grow and by
1911 the herd was up to 350 horses and he had been wise to see the
opportunities of breeding the 'black gold' Karakul sheep. His flock
had grown to 8,500. In 1912 he was elected to represent the farmers by
sitting on the first Railways Council.
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June 1914: It was on this morning while traveling in motorcade
through the streets of Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia
Herzegovina, that Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife
Sophie were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip a Serbian nationalist. The
date was significant for it is the anniversary of the 1389 battle of
Kosovo when the Serbs were defeated by the Moslem Turks. Serbia had
regained its' independence from the Ottomans in 1878, but had been
annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908; an action that had only served to
fuel Serbian nationalism. On 28th of July 1914 the Austro-Hungarian
Empire declared war on 'Little Serbia' thus setting off a chain
reaction that would plunge the countries of Europe and eventually the
United States of America into total war.
The Last Voyage:
On 1 August 1914 Hansheinrich and Jayta boarded the
mail ship Gertrud Woermann at Luderitz bound for Hamburg via
Swakopmund. On 3 August the ship sailed from Swakopmund into a world
of uncertainty. The following day the British Government, having
received no timely response from Germany for the cessation of
hostilities, declared war. The German merchant vessel known to be a
transporter of military personnel took evasive action and diverted
its' course to Brazil in order to avoid capture by the British Navy.
It was through a series of clandestine moves that Hansheinrich
eventually managed to make his way back to Germany and The War.
During the early part of 1915
Captain Hansheinrich Von Wolf reported for duty with his former
regiment. He was promoted to rank of Major and was drafted to Flanders
where he received minor wounds. Before he had fully recovered he was
posted to France as Battery Commander of the Reserve Infantry Regiment
N0. 242. On Monday 4 September near to the village of La Foret,
Hansheinrich Von Wolf died from wounds received in the Battle of the
Somme.
Jayta Von Wolf:
Following her husband's death, Jayta moved from Dresden to Munich
where her stepfather served as Consul General. She later moved to Lake Teger where she lived in a villa. Her movements in diplomatic circles
brought her into contact with Erich Schlemmer who was the Consul
General to the King of Siam. Late in the turbulent 1930's Jayta wisely
moved to live in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1946 she returned to the USA
and lived with her parents in Summit New Jersey. In her later years,
whenever asked about the time she had spent in the German Colony of
South West Africa she would smile and reply,
"Ah! That was a very interesting experience, you know." Jayta died in the early 1960s.
Acknowledgements and further reading: GV6, H4, P2 ►
Duwisib Castle 1
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Local Area Attractions
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► Sesriem
► Sossusvlei
► Maltahohe
► Solitaire
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