Tsumeb

local community Tsumeb Okavisume ( her ) Kaitsumeb ( naq )
Details Details
Entrance to Tsumeb
motto	good luck for
Basic data
Population Area Population Density	19,200 18 km² 1,064.3 inh / km²
State Region Constituency	Namibia Oshikoto Tsumeb
Establishment date	April 6, 1905
License plate phone code	T 67
Website

The municipality of Tsumeb is a mining town and was the capital of the Oshikoto region in Namibia until August 18, 2008 . In 2011 it had 19,200 inhabitants, whereby only 12,190 inhabitants are given for 2019.

Tsumeb is located about 400 kilometers north of the capital Windhoek in the so-called Otavi Triangle (also known as the "Maisdreieck") together with Otavi and Grootfontein , the intensely agricultural area of ​​the Otavi Mountains with higher rainfall. It is the district administrative seat of the constituency of the same name Tsumeb .

The electoral and coat of arms of the city of Tsumeb is the miner's greeting " Glück Auf ".

City name

The 12 meter high malachite hill

Tsumeb owes its name to the "green hill" - a deeply oxidized copper mineralization originally on the surface, which then mainly consisted of malachite and was surrounded by a high tambuti forest. Tsumeb - formerly also "Osume", "Otjisume", "Soomeb" and "Sumeb" - means "green algae mud" in the Herero language , according to Gerhard Söhnge also "place of the frogs". From the language of the Nama it is translated as "place of the green moss". The name "Tsumeb" comes from Haiǁom " tsomsoub ", which means something like " dig a big hole in the loose ground that keeps collapsing " - a clear indication of the karst nature of the dolomite rock here . The Hain || om are San and were among the first inhabitants of the area.

geography

Otjikoto Lake, west of Tsumeb, in 2017

The city of Tsumeb ( coordinates of the city of Tsumeb ) is located in the northwest of Namibia at an altitude of 1310  m above sea level on the northern edge of the Otavibergland at a distance of approx. 430 kilometers by road north of Windhoek . The Otavibergland, the highest peak of which is the Gross-Otavi -pitze on the southern edge of the highlands at an altitude of 2069  m , represents an irregularly oval-contoured high mountain range, which extends about 100 km in an east-west direction and 75 km in north-south -Direction extends. The highest areas of these mountains flatten to the north and dissolve into island mountains . The average altitude of the vast plains in between is 1400  m to 1450  m . The average annual rainfall of about 550 mm is well above the Namibian average, results in rich vegetation and also allows arable farming (hence the name "Maisdreieck" for the area between the villages of Tsumeb, Otavi and Grootfontein). This amount of precipitation led and still leads to the fact that the upcoming mighty carbonate rock series of the "Otavi Group" are deeply karstified underground. In this way, the Otjikotosee , west of Tsumeb, was created , which today supplies the city with water.

Tsumeb satellite image

According to the census of August 27, 2001, the population of the city of Tsumeb was given as 14,929 (as of 2001), with a considerable excess of men at that time. As in many other areas of Namibia, the population is ethnically heterogeneous. a. Nama , Damara , Herero , Owambo , Germans , Afrikaaner ( Boers ) and Portuguese . By 2011 (census of August 28, 2011) the population of Tsumeb had increased to 19,200 inhabitants (19,275). As a result of the current population of only 12,190 inhabitants, a sharp decline in population has been recorded, which is primarily due to the long-term effects of the cessation of mining in the Tsumeb mine in 1996.

climate

The climate classification of Köppen and Geiger , according to the climate in Tsumeb type Bsh - so it prevails steppe climate , where evaporation exceeds precipitation in six to nine months per year. The annual average temperature is 22 ° C (see also the climate table and diagrams opposite). Spread over the year, the rainfall adds up to an average annual rainfall of 550 mm. The months with the lowest precipitation (0 mm) are July and August, the months with the most precipitation are January and February (131 mm). In the wettest months of January and February there is an average of 131 mm more precipitation than in the driest months of July and August. On average, October and November are the warmest months with an average temperature of 25 ° C, while June and July are the coldest months with temperatures averaging 16 ° C. This means that the warmest months are on average 9 ° C warmer than the coldest months. All-time extreme temperatures are −3 ° C and 39 ° C.

Tsumeb
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     131   31 18th     131   30th 18th     96   29 17th     35   28 15th     5   26th 11     1   24 8th     0   24 8th     0   27 10     2   31 15th     20th   33 18th     56   32 18th     73   31 18th Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: weatherbase.com. Retrieved July 18, 2019 .  Precipitation: climate-data.org. Retrieved July 18, 2019 .

Monthly average temperatures and rainfall for Tsumeb Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 31 30th 29 28 26th 24 24 27 31 33 32 31 O 28.8 Record maximum ( ° C ) 39 37 37 35 34 32 30th 33 37 38 39 39 ᐃ 39 Min. Temperature (° C) 18th 18th 17th 15th 11 8th 8th 10 15th 18th 18th 18th O 14.5 Record minimum (° C) 9 10 6th 6th 1 −2 −3 1 2 7th 11 7th ᐁ −3 Temperature (° C) 24 24 23 21st 18th 16 16 18th 23 25th 25th 24 O 21.4 Precipitation ( mm ) 131 131 96 35 5 1 0 0 2 20th 56 73 Σ 550 Rainy days ( d ) 9 9 6th 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 4th 7th Σ 39 Humidity ( % ) 51 56 58 50 39 36 34 27 20th 26th 36 56 O 40.7 Source: weatherbase.com. Retrieved July 18, 2019 .  Precipitation: climate-data.org. Retrieved July 18, 2019 .

history

Until 1899

Originally the area around Tsumeb was inhabited by San . They were also the discoverers of the copper ores that erupted here on the earth's surface (“green hill”, compare the figure above) and were able to use these ores in the so-called “termite furnace process” ( termite mounds were simply blast furnaces because of their special ventilation system used) to extract and process copper . From this a lively copper trade developed with the Ovambo, who settled in the north, who forged artistic rings and necklaces from the metal.

The smelting works in Tsumeb around 1910

Colored miners in Tsumeb after work around 1920

The news of these ore deposits was not hidden from the whites either. Since the beginning of the 19th century, several expeditions have been undertaken in the Otavi Mountains to explore the ore deposits and their mining possibilities. Ultimately, all these attempts failed because of the lack of or seemingly too complex transport routes. Only after the Germans took over responsibility for the area did a planned exploration of the ore deposits begin, since their use was expected to improve the previously negative balance of German colonial policy. In 1893 the South West African Company received the mining rights to these sites. The planned development of the mines by English engineers began in 1899, and after the establishment of the German-English Otavi Mining and Railway Company ( OMEG ), a subsidiary of the South West African Company , commercial mining began on April 6, 1900.

From 1900

At the end of 1900 the first load of ore was brought to Swakopmund by ox wagon , from there to be transported to Europe on the Woermann Line . The rich ore deposits, which are not limited to copper (including lead and zinc as well as over 200 other minerals, some of which only occur here), on the one hand, and the arduous transport routes on the other, made the construction of a railway line to Swakopmund inevitable. Their construction, under conscription resident here, Herero and Ovambo was tackled, was one of the reasons for the 1904 in Okahandja beginning Herero uprising took place, especially since the time necessary for the railway construction land acquisition without approval of the competent Herero leader.

In 1906 the railway line was completed, which helped the mine and thus Tsumeb to a dynamic ascent. In the period that followed, many African contract workers , forced laborers and also many Europeans were settled in Tsumeb to manage the mine. The rich mineral finds - gold was also found in small amounts - also brought adventurers to the place, so that Tsumeb experienced a very troubled time. Since 1907 a high pressure water pipe has been supplying the city with water.

The First World War brought a clear setback for the mine; But Tsumeb also experienced stormy times, because war refugees from all over the country and finally the rest of the German protection force and the last governor of German South West Africa , Theodor Seitz , gathered here. The towns of Tsumeb, Grootfontein and Khorab were surrounded by an overwhelming force of over 60,000 South African soldiers . The surrender took place on July 9, 1915 not far from Tsumeb on the railway line between Otavi and Khorab. Previously, the German soldiers had sunk a large number of weapons and military equipment in the nearby Lake Otjikoto so that they would not fall into the hands of the enemy. It was only after the Second World War that some of this war material was salvaged by private divers and, after extensive restoration, together with numerous other exhibits, formed the basis of the Tsumeb Museum.

administration

City structure

Tsumeb is divided into 13 districts (as of 2019):

• Central
• Nomtsoub
• Extension 1
• Extension 2
• Extension 3
• Extension 4
• Extension 5
• Extension 6
• Extension 7
• Extension 8
• Extension 9
• Extension 10
• Extension 11

Local politics

In the local elections in 2015 , the following official final result was determined.

Political party	be right	Share of votes	Seats
SWAPO	3149	85.3%	6th
DTA	251	6.8%	1
UDF	157	4.3%	0
APP	109	2.9%	0
CDVP	27	0.7%	0
All in all	3693	100%	7th

economy

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

(with the exception of mining & research)

Main street in Tsumeb

Catholic St. Barbara Church in Tsumeb, a national monument in Namibia

The Great Depression and the Second World War did not leave Tsumeb unscathed. Both led to stagnation in the development of the mine and the city - exacerbated by the fall in raw material prices. After Namibia's independence, several labor disputes, some of which were violent, led to further decline and ultimately even to the partial closure of the mine. Today (as of 2019) mining has been deferred. The headframes are still clearly visible landmarks of the city, but no longer in operation. In the meantime, Tsumeb has acquired the reputation of a garden city through the planned planting of Jacaranda trees and their bloom in the Namibian spring.

Mining

Headframe of the decommissioned Tsumeb Mine (2014)

The best known and most famous mine in Tsumeb is the "Tsumeb Mine" (also Tsumcorp Mine ) named after the place , which was operated from 1907 to 1996 and in which a total of 296 recognized minerals were identified, such as native silver and its sulphide acanthite as well Alamosite , beudantite , dioptase , rhodochrosite , tennantite , zircon and others.

For 72 of them, this mine is also a type locality such as the minerals Tsumebit and Arsentsumebit named after the place as well as the Otavit named after the mountains in the area , the Ovamboit named after Ovamboland and the Otjisumeit named after the Herero name for Tsumeb . The mineral tsumcorite bears its name after the "Tsumeb Corporation Limited". The minerals Andyrobertsit , Arsenohopeit , Bartelkeit , Biehlit , Calvertit , Davidlloydit , Ekatit , Erikapohlit , Eyselit , Fahleit , Gallobeudantit , Galloplumbogummit , Gebhardit , Gerdtremmelit , Hermannroseit , Itoit , Krieselit , Mathewrogersit , O'Danielit , Otjisumeit, Ovamboit, Plumboselit , Prosperit , Schaurteit , Söhngeit , Stottit , Tsumgallit , Vanackerit , Wilhelmkleinit and Zinkgartrellite have only been found here (as of 2016).

Further finds, albeit with only 18 recognized minerals (as of 2019), are much less numerous in the neighboring "Tsumeb West Mine". In addition to copper , the copper minerals azurite , bornite , chalcosine , chalcopyrite , cuprite , malachite , the lead minerals cerussite and galena as well as germanite , mottramite and rosasite have been proven here .

A third known mineral locality are the slag - heaps with so far (as of 2019) 26 recognized minerals such as, among others Anglesite , Bayldonit , Digenite , Gahnit , magnetite , Olivenit , spinel and wurtzite .

See also : Mining in Namibia

research

Walter Dieminger from the Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy allowed to Ionosphärenbeobachtung 1963 at Tsumeb the "research station Jonathan Zenneck " build that solid as a group building was built. It was put into operation on July 31, 1964. At the time of its construction, the area covered 30,000 m² and is located 15 km west of Tsumeb. The observation station, directed by the South African National Space Agency , has been a network observatory in the International Real-time Magnetic Observatory Network since November 2004 . Parallel to the establishment of ionospheric research, a missile base was built here in conjunction with German agencies.

traffic

There are Tsumeb Airport and regular train connections to Windhoek , Swakopmund and Walvis Bay via the Otavibahn . Tsumeb is also on the most important north-south road connection in the country, the B1 national road . In addition, the largely completed national road B15 branches off in Tsumeb , which leads to the Angola border near Katwitwi and is intended to boost trade with the neighboring country.

Educational institutions

• Etosha Secondary School
• Francis Galton Primary School
• Nomtsoub Primary School
• Nyambali Senior Primary School
• Ombili Primary School
• Oneputa Combined School
• Oshalongo Combined School
• Otjikoto Secondary School
• Ozizi Combined School
• St. Francis Primary School ( RKK Namibia )
• Tsumeb Afrikaans Medium Primary School
• Tsumeb English Primary School

sons and daughters of the town

• Alfred Ndyenge (* 1983), football player
• Warren Neidel (born 1980), football player
• Mohammed Ouseb (* 1974), football player
• Arnold Subeb (* 1981), soccer goalkeeper

Town twinning

• Chesterfield (since 1993)
• Elverum (since 1993/2001)
• Gweru (since 2006)
• Lanzhou (since 2005)
• Selebi-Phikwe (since April 15, 2015)
• Tecumseh (since 1994)

literature

• Ernst Johannes Paul : Germans, Boers and English in South West Africa: Accompanying word to a nationality map of the Europeans in South West Africa . In: Koloniale Rundschau . tape 1931 , no. 9/10 , 1931 ( gaebler.info [accessed April 14, 2019]).
• Ilse Schatz: Tsumeb in OMEG's time . Self-published, Tsumeb 1997, ISBN 99916-716-3-3 , p. 1-193 .

Remarks

1. ↑ Note: This article contains characters from the alphabet of the Khoisan languages spoken in southern Africa . The display contains characters of the click letters ǀ , ǁ , ǂ and ǃ . For more information on the pronunciation of long or nasal vowels or certain clicks , see e.g. B. under Khoekhoegowab .

Web links

Commons : Tsumeb  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Webpage Tsumeb.com. In: tsumeb.com. Ian Bruce, Malcolm Southwood, Liam Schofield, accessed July 22, 2019 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Population figures for Tsumeb after the 2011 Census. In: catalog.ihsn.org. NAMIBIA 2011 Population and Housing Census, accessed July 20, 2019 .  
2. ↑ Omuthiya new capital of the Oshikoto region. In: allafrica.com/. AllAfrica Foundation, accessed July 20, 2019 .  
3. ↑ ^{a b} Population figures Tsumeb. In: worldpopulationreview.com. World Population Review, accessed July 18, 2019 .  
4. ↑ Ilse Schatz: Tsumeb in OMEG's time . Self-published, Tsumeb 1997, ISBN 99916-716-3-3 , p. 1-193 .
5. ^ Heinrich Vedder: Meaning of the tribal and place names in SWA In: Journal SWA Scientific Society . tape IV , 1929.
6. ^ Heinrich Vedder: South West Africa in Early Times: Being the story of South West Africa up to the date of Maharero's death in 1890 (translated by Cyril G. Hall) . Oxford Univ. Press, London 1938, pp. 1-525 (English).
7. ^ ^{A b} Gerhard Söhnge: Tsumeb: A Historical Sketch (Scientific Research in South West Africa, 5th Series) . Committee of the SWA Scientific Society, Windhoek 1967, p. 10 .
8. ^ J. Desmond Clark: Pre-Europcan copper workings in South and Central Africa . In: Rhodesian Mining Journal . tape XXIX , no. 362 , 1957, pp. 393-439 (English).
9. ↑ Wolfgang Bartelke: The ore deposit of Tsumeb / South West Africa and its minerals . In: The opening . tape 27 , no. 12 , 1976, p. 393-439 .
10. ^ AF Lombaard, A. Günzel, John Innes, TL Krüger: The Tsumeb lead-copper-zinc-silver deposit, south west Africa / Namibia . In: CR Anhaeusser, S. Maske (Hrsg.): Mineral deposits of Southern Africa . 1st edition. tape 2 . The Geological Society of South Africa, Johannesburg 1986, ISBN 978-0-620-09439-9 , pp. 1761–1787 (English).
11. ^ Clive HM King: Carbonates and mineral deposits of the Otavi mountainland . In: MNC McManus (Ed.): Proterozoic Crustal & Metallogenic Evolution - Excursion 4 . 1st edition. Geological society & Geological Survey of Namibia, JWindhoek 1994, ISBN 978-0-620-09439-9 , pp. 1-40 (English).
12. ^ Robert J. Bowell: Hydrogeochemistry of the Tsumeb Deposit: Implications for Arsenate Mineral Stability. In: Robert J. Bowell, Charles N. Alpers, Heather E. Jamieson, D. Kirk Nordstrom, Juraj Majzlan (Eds.), Arsenic: Environmental Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Microbiology . In: Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry . tape 79 , 2014, ISBN 978-1-61451-797-9 , pp. 589-627 , doi : 10.2138 / rmg.2014.79.14 .
13. ↑ Paul Keller: Tsumeb / Namibia - one of the most spectacular mineral discovery sites on earth . In: Lapis . tape 9 , no. 7/8 , 1984, pp. 13-63 .
14. ↑ ^{a b} Population Tsumeb Census 2011-08-28. In: www.citypopulation.de. City Population, accessed July 20, 2019 .  
15. ↑ Tsumeb climate data. In: weatherbase.com. www.geoba.se, accessed July 18, 2019 .  
16. ↑ Tsumeb climate data. In: climate-data.org. AM Online Projects, accessed July 18, 2019 .  
17. ^ Government Gazette. Republic of Namibia, No. 6856, March 15, 2019, p. 3.
18. ^ Results of local elections Tsumeb November 28, 2015. (PDF) In: web.archive.org. Electoral Commission of Namibia, accessed July 20, 2019 .  
19. ↑ Mindat - description of the location and mineral list of the Tsumeb Mine (Tsumcorp Mine), Tsumeb, Otjikoto (Oshikoto) Region, Namibia. In: mindat.org. Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed July 20, 2019 .  
20. ↑ Mindat - description of the location and mineral list of the Tsumeb West Mine, Tsumeb, Otjikoto (Oshikoto) Region, Namibia. In: mindat.org. Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed July 20, 2019 .  
21. ↑ Mindat - description of the location and mineral list of the Tsumeb smelter (slag locality), Tsumeb, Otjikoto (Oshikoto) Region, Namibia. In: mindat.org. Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed July 20, 2019 .  
22. ^ Walter Dieminger: New research station of the MPG in South West Africa . In: Physical sheets . tape 27 , no. 3 , 1965, p. 393-439 , doi : 10.1002 / phbl.19650210307 ( wiley.com [PDF; 332 kB ; accessed on July 20, 2019]).
23. ^ Johan H. de Beer (Ed): The History of Geophysics in Southern Africa . Sun MeDIA, Stellenbosch 1823, ISBN 978-1-920689-80-3 , p. 279 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
24. ↑ List of IMOs and Responsible GINs. In: www.intermagnet.org. Intermagnet , accessed on July 20, 2019 .  
25. ^ Eduardo de Sousa Ferreira: Portuguese Colonialism between South Africa and Europe - Economic Policy Analyzes on the Portuguese Colonies, South Africa and Namibia . Action Third World; Southern Africa Information Center , Freiburg; Bonn 1972, p. 110 .
26. ^ Karl Rawer: The time after 1945. In: In Memoriam Walter Dieminger 07.07.1907 - 29.09.2000. www.ursi-landesausschuss.de, accessed on July 20, 2019 (English).  
27. ↑ road to katwitwi on track (2 April 2013). In: az.com.na. Allgemeine Zeitung, accessed on July 20, 2019 .  
28. ^ Etosha Secondary School accredited as PASCH School. In: https://namibiadailynews.info/ . Namibia Daily News, accessed July 20, 2019 .  
29. ↑ St. Francis Primary School. In: www.rcchurch.na. Roman Catholic Church (EKK) in Namibia, accessed July 20, 2019 .  

Coordinates: 19 ° 15 ′  S , 17 ° 43 ′  E