Grootfontein

The place was known to the Herero under the name Otjivanda.{{cite news | title=Windhoek?! Rather make that Otjomuise | url=https://www.namibian.com.na/16007/archive-read/Windhoek-Rather-make-that-Otjomuise | last=Menges | first=Werner | newspaper=The Namibian | date=12 May 2005}} In 1885, 40 Boer families from the north-west of South Africa settled at Grootfontein. Part of the Dorsland trekkers, they were heading towards Angola. When that territory fell under Portuguese control, they turned back and established the Republic of Upingtonia at Grootfontein. Abandoned by 1887, it became the headquarters of the South West Africa Company in 1893.

In 1908 the Roman Catholic church established a mission in Grootfontein as the basis of their eventually successful attempt to establish missions in Kavango.{{cite book |title= Sata vuotta suomalaista lähetystyötä 1859–1959. II: Suomen Lähetysseuran Afrikan työn historia |trans-title= ‘One Hundred Years of Finnish Missionary Work 1859–1959. II: The History of FMS’s Missionary Work in Africa’ |last= Peltola |first= Matti |year=1958 |publisher=The Finnish Missionary Society |location=Helsinki |page=217 }}

Like all the towns in the Otavi Triangle, Grootfontein is green in summer but drier in winter. In spring, jacaranda and flamboyant trees bloom in profusion. The town has an old German Schutztruppe fortress from the year 1896, which today houses a museum that expounds on the local history. The economic mainspring of the area were for many decades the Berg Aukas and Abenab mines to the north east of the town. These produced zinc and vanadium but have since closed. Namibia is a dolomite country and the carbonate deposits in the upper parts of the mine have yielded interesting fossils of simian or pongoid creatures that lived millions of years before modern humans evolved.

File:Hoba Meteorite 2007.jpg

Twenty four kilometres west of Grootfontein lies the huge Hoba meteorite. At over 60 tons, it is the largest known meteorite on Earth, as well as the largest naturally occurring mass of iron known to exist on the planet's surface.

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File:Grootfontein Airport (2018).jpg

Grootfontein is a railhead on TransNamib, the national railway and transport system. The next station to the west is Otavi. Grootfontein is also home of Namibia's main military base which housed several units of the now departed South African Defence Force.

It has an airfield that can handle large transport carriers such as the Hercules C130, as well as commercial passenger aircraft.

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The Grootfontein Show, an annual agricultural exhibition that has taken place since 1911,{{cite news

|url = http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40818

|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130221051202/http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=40818

|url-status = dead

|archive-date = 21 February 2013

|title = Onÿarata @ Grootfontein Show centenary while The Wire storm the coastal towns

|date = 23 September 2011

|newspaper = New Era

}} is the second largest annual entrepreneurial exhibition in the country, after the Windhoek Show.{{cite news

|url=https://www.namibian.com.na/archive19982004/2004/september/national/046B5E1F0B.html

|title=Farmer dies at Show

|date=29 September 2004

|newspaper=The Namibian

|url-status=live

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024191930/https://www.namibian.com.na/archive19982004/2004/september/national/046B5E1F0B.html

|archive-date=2021-10-24

}}

Grootfontein receives an annual average rainfall of {{convert|557|mm}}, with a high of {{convert|956|mm|abbr=on}} in the 2010/2011 rainy season,{{cite news

|url=http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2011/may/article/rainy-season-was-one-for-the-record-books/

|title=Rainy season was one for the record books

|last=Menges

|first=Werner

|date=26 May 2011

|newspaper=The Namibian

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215044804/http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2011/may/article/rainy-season-was-one-for-the-record-books/

|archive-date=15 December 2011

}} and a low of {{convert|230|mm|abbr=on}} during the 2010s drought in 2018/19.{{Cite news | title=Khomas faces worst drought in 90 years | last1=Menges | first1=Werner | last2=Oliveira | first2=Yokany | newspaper=The Namibian | date=23 May 2019 | page=1 | url=https://www.namibian.com.na/78826/read/Khomas-faces-worst-drought-in-90-years}}

The town has a hot semi arid climate (Koppen:BSh).

{{Weather box

|location = Grootfontein, Namibia

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

| Jan high C = 30.9

| Feb high C = 29.8

| Mar high C = 29.4

| Apr high C = 28.5

| May high C = 26.5

| Jun high C = 24.0

| Jul high C = 23.8

| Aug high C = 26.8

| Sep high C = 30.6

| Oct high C = 32.1

| Nov high C = 31.9

| Dec high C = 31.3

|year high C = 28.8

| Jan low C = 18.5

| Feb low C = 18.0

| Mar low C = 17.1

| Apr low C = 14.4

| May low C = 10.4

| Jun low C = 7.1

| Jul low C = 6.8

| Aug low C = 9.6

| Sep low C = 13.8

| Oct low C = 16.9

| Nov low C = 18.0

| Dec low C = 18.4

|year low C = 14.1

| Jan humidity = 58

| Feb humidity = 66

| Mar humidity = 66

| Apr humidity = 70

| May humidity = 51

| Jun humidity = 48

| Jul humidity = 43

| Aug humidity = 34

| Sep humidity = 28

| Oct humidity = 33

| Nov humidity = 42

| Dec humidity = 46

|year humidity = 49

| Jan precipitation mm = 141.7

| Feb precipitation mm = 127.0

| Mar precipitation mm = 99.6

| Apr precipitation mm = 30.1

| May precipitation mm = 4.3

| Jun precipitation mm = 0.4

| Jul precipitation mm = 0

| Aug precipitation mm = 1.3

| Sep precipitation mm = 4.9

| Oct precipitation mm = 21.5

| Nov precipitation mm = 51.6

| Dec precipitation mm = 70.7

|year precipitation mm = 553.1

|source = Ministry of Works and Transport (Meteorological Service Division)

{{cite web

|url =http://www.meteona.com/attachments/035_Namibia_Long-term_Climate_Statistics_for_Specified_Places[1].pdf |title =Ministry of Works & Transport: Tabulation of Climate Statistics for Selected Stations in Namibia

|year=2012}}

|date=April 2012}}

Grootfontein is governed by a municipal council that has seven seats.{{Cite news | title=Know Your Local Authority | publisher=Institute for Public Policy Research | newspaper=Election Watch | year = 2015 | issue=3 | page=4}}

The 2015 local authority election was won by Namibia's ruling SWAPO party which gained five seats and 2,019 votes. One seat each went to the Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (DTA, 546 votes) and to the All People's Party (APP, 154 votes).{{cite web | title=Local elections results | publisher=Electoral Commission of Namibia | page=6 | url=http://www.ecn.na/documents/27857/218731/LA+results+%28press+release%29+2015.pdf/870a030b-8547-487f-ad18-b22713b16d4c?version=1.0 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210194328/http://www.ecn.na/documents/27857/218731/LA+results+%28press+release%29+2015.pdf/870a030b-8547-487f-ad18-b22713b16d4c?version=1.0 | url-status=dead | archive-date=10 December 2015 | date=28 November 2015 }} SWAPO also won the 2020 local authority election, obtaining 1,727 votes and gaining four seats. The Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), an opposition party formed in August 2020, obtained 653 votes and gained two seats. The remaining seat went to the Popular Democratic Movement (PDM, the new name of the DTA) with 309 votes.{{Cite web | title=2020 Local Authority Elections Results and Allocation of Seats | page=15 | date=29 November 2020 | publisher=Electoral Commission of Namibia | url=https://www.ecn.na/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Media-Release-on-LA-Results_2020.pdf | access-date=4 March 2021 | archive-date=24 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124162938/https://www.ecn.na/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Media-Release-on-LA-Results_2020.pdf | url-status=dead }}

Previously the German school Regierungsschule Grootfontein had been in Grootfonten. In 1965 it had 4 teachers and 117 learners and was supported by the German government."[http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/04/036/0403672.pdf Deutscher Bundestag 4. Wahlperiode Drucksache IV/3672]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20160312191648/http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/04/036/0403672.pdf Archive]). Bundestag (West Germany). 23 June 1965. Retrieved on 12 March 2016. p. 31.

Nowadays, Grootfontein is home to four high schools, Grootfontein Secondary School, Otjiwanda High School{{Cite news|url=https://www.newera.com.na/2014/01/24/school-defies-ministry/ | title=Another school defies ministry | last=Matali | first=John Travolter | date=24 January 2014 | newspaper=New Era}} Friedrich Awaseb Senior Secondary School,{{Cite news | url=http://www.lelamobile.com/content/16168/Grootfontein-learner-allegedly-dies-after-punch-to-the-head/ | title=Grootfontein learner allegedly dies after punch to the head | publisher=Nampa | date=5 April 2014 | access-date=21 February 2017 | archive-date=18 April 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418031637/http://www.lelamobile.com/content/16168/Grootfontein-learner-allegedly-dies-after-punch-to-the-head/ | url-status=usurped }} and a private school named Karstveld Academy. Further the primary schools Luiperdheuwel, Kalenga, Makalani, Omulunga and Wilhelm Nortier are located here. The city also hosts a private German medium primary school (Deutsche Privatschule Grootfontein - DPG).[http://www.dsvg.iway.na/schule.htm Deutsche Privatschule Grootfontein] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415120836/http://www.dsvg.iway.na/schule.htm |date=2015-04-15 }}, dsvg.iway.na

• Behati Prinsloo – model, best known for working with Victoria's Secret and wife of the band Maroon 5's lead vocalist, Adam Levine
• Leon Jooste – SWAPO politician and businessman[http://www.nid.org.na/view_book_entry.php?book_id=68 Leon Jooste] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611173056/http://www.nid.org.na/view_book_entry.php?book_id=68 |date=2011-06-11 }} Namibia Institute for Democracy
• Hage Geingob – Former president of the Republic of Namibia
• Lydia Katjita – SWAPO politician and member of the Pan-African Parliament
• Hannes Smith – journalist
• Inge Zaamwani – businesswoman

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• {{Official website|http://www.grootfonteinmun.com.na/}}
• [http://www.altefortmuseum.de Web site of the Alte Fort Museum in the former German Schutztruppe fortress]

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{{Coord|19|33|57|S|18|06|13|E|region:NA_type:city|display=title}}

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Category:Populated places in the Otjozondjupa Region

Category:Cities in Namibia

Category:Capitals of former nations

Category:Populated places founded by Afrikaners

Category:Hot springs of Namibia

Category:Catholic missions in Namibia