Cape of cross
| Replica of the original cross by Diogo Cão | |||
|---|---|---|---|
National monument in Namibia 
|
|||
 |
|||
| Monument type | Historical and military sites: cross | ||
| location | Erongo , Namibia | ||
| Geographic coordinates : | 21 ° 46 '22.8 " S , 13 ° 56' 59.6" E | ||
|
|||
| Emergence | 1478 (1980) | ||
|
Recognized by the National Heritage Council |
1st November 1968 | ||
| Deprivation | |||
| Sponsorship | Ministry of Environment and Tourism | ||
| Website | NHC Namibia | ||
The Cape Cross ( English Cape Cross ; also German Kap Cross or historically Kap Croß and Portuguese Cabo Cruz or Cabo Cross ; Afrikaans Kaap Kruis ) is a headland in the South Atlantic on the coast of Namibia and is located on the coastal road C34 about 70 kilometers north of Henties Bay . Today it is part of the nature reserve " Cross Cape Seal Reserve ".
history
The Portuguese navigator and explorer Diogo Cão was commissioned by King John II in 1484 to venture south into previously undiscovered regions as part of the search for the sea route to India and the Spice Islands along the west coast of Africa. In this context, the team had to set up stone crosses (so-called padrões ) carried on the ships at particularly prominent points on the coast in order to permanently document the occupation by the Portuguese crown and at the same time to serve as a landmark for the seafarers .
In January 1486, Diego Cão was probably the first European to set foot on the headland at 21 ° 46 ′ south latitude at today's Cape of the Cross and erected a stone cross there as ordered (see also: Cold Cape and Diaz Point ). This original was removed from the former German colony of German South West Africa on January 30, 1893 by Corvette Captain Gottlieb Becker , the commandant of the Falcon , and brought to Germany. According to a contemporary article in the Deutsches Reichsanzeiger , this was done to save it from complete ruin because of its poor condition. According to Becker, the cross was no longer visible as a landmark because the column was inclined at 45 degrees and the cross had fallen down. It was therefore replaced on site by a simple wooden cross, which two years later was exchanged for a replica made of marble.
Until August 2019, the cross was in the German Historical Museum (DHM) in Berlin. At the end of the 20th century, thanks to private donations, another new stone cross, more in line with the original, was added, so that today there are two crosses at Cape Cross. In May 2019, the DHM Board of Trustees decided to comply with an official request from Namibia to the Federal Republic of Germany from 2017 and to return the original cross, since August 2019 the column has been back in Namibia. This is under lock and key and, according to the Museums Association of Namibia, will in future be placed in a location that meets the criteria of preservation, access and cohesion. The National Maritime Museum , the Swakopmund Museum , the Cape Cross Museum and the National Museum of Namibia are being discussed .
Inscriptions
The column of the original cross showed Latin and Portuguese inscriptions. The replica commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm was supposed to represent the original as faithfully as possible and was merely supplemented by an additional information board.
The wording of the Latin inscription on the stone cross, which was apparently prefabricated before Diogo Cão's journey, says:
“[A] mundi creatione fluxerunt anni 6684 et [a] Christi nativitate 148? q [uum] [e] xcelenti [ssi] mus [s] erenissi [mus] que Rex d. Johanes secundus portugal [iae] per ia (co) bum canum ejus militem colu (m) nam hic situari jus (s) it. "
"In 6685 after the creation of the world and in 1484 after the birth of Christ, the most exalted and lucid King John II of Portugal commissioned his knight Jacobus Canus [Diogo Cão] to discover this land and to erect the column here."
So it was widely believed at the time that the earth was in 5200 BC. Was created by the Creator ( Eusebian era ). James Ussher "calculated" 1650 the time of creation on October 23, 4004 BC. 9.00 a.m. from Bible quotations ( Ussher-Lightfoot calendar ).
gallery
Original cross, illustration from 1894
Inscriptions, illustration from 1894
Newspaper article in the German Reichsanzeiger from 1894
Copies of the original padrão
Translation of the Portuguese inscription
Postage stamp of the Reichspost for German South West Africa with postmark Cap Cross 1900
Seal colony at Cape Cross
.jpg)
literature
- Richard Scheppig: The column of Cape Croß . Marine-Rundschau issue 8, Berlin 1894
- Richard Scheppig: The Cão column from Cape Cross in the historical collection of the Imperial Marine Academy in Kiel . Kiel 1903 ( NUMiSTRAL ).
- DW Krynauw, German translation by Fritz Gaerdes: Das Kreuzkap , Publication of the Historical Monument Commission of South West Africa, No. 4, Council for National Heritage , Okahandja 1970.
- P. Bridgeford: Cape Cross - Past and Present. P. & M. Bridgeford, 2002. ISBN 978-99916-50-70-8 .
Web links
- Museumsportal Berlin.de, The coat of arms column at the Kreuzkap
- dhm.de, The Pillar of Cape Cross, Colonial Objects and Historical Justice
- spiegel.de, Who Owns the Column of the Cape Cross?
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c D. W. Krynauw: Das Kreuzkap . Historical Monuments Commission of South West Africa, No. 4, 1970.
- ^ Albert Röhr: German marine chronicle. Verlag Gerhard Stalling, Oldenburg / Hamburg 1974, ISBN 3-7979-1845-3 , p. 95 f.
- ↑ Scheppig, 1894
- ↑ Christoph Titz: The cross with the cultural treasures. SPIEGEL Online, May 17, 2019, accessed on May 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Erwin Leuschner: Cape Cross Stele back in Namibia after 125 years. Allgemeine Zeitung , August 12, 2019, accessed on November 7, 2019 .
- ^ Museums as Cultural Hubs. MAN, August 9, 2019.
- ↑ Deutscher Reichsanzeiger No. 192 of August 16, 1894