Independence Memorial Museum
 Outside view (August 2018) |
|
| Data | |
|---|---|
| place | Windhoek |
| Art | |
| architect |
Mansudae Overseas Projects , North Korea |
| opening | March 20, 2014 |
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The Independence Memorial Museum ( English Independence Memorial Museum ), commonly known as Independence Museum is a national museum in the Namibian capital Windhoek . It has been open to the public since March 21, 2014.
The museum is flanked by two statues, also built by the North Korean construction company Mansudae Overseas Projects . One statue by the stairs to the museum shows founding president Sam Nujoma , another shows a couple who symbolically break chains. This statue is intended to commemorate the genocide of 1904 and is at the second location of the equestrian monument .
construction
According to the planning, the museum building was planned as a triangular five-storey glass building on an area of 40 meters by 40 meters and should be at least 40 meters high. The facade was completed in August 2011. The construction was estimated at N $ 60 million.
opening
The museum was originally supposed to be inaugurated after a construction period of just six months for the 20th anniversary of independence on March 21, 2010. On May 12, 2010, the responsible ministry announced that the construction should be completed on August 30, 2011 after a construction period of 18 months. In March 2011, the opening was set for mid-2011. On April 19, 2011, the opening was postponed again to September 30, 2011. A representative of the Namibian Ministry of Culture announced in March 2011 that the museum will be an "interactive museum of a class never seen before". The opening was expected on March 21, 2012, but was finally postponed again. The museum was finally opened together with two new statues in front of the museum and the old festivals on March 20, 2014 by the Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba .
restaurant
In October 2016, a panorama restaurant was opened on the floor above the museum , from whose three terraces a panoramic view of Windhoek is possible.
Controversy
The construction and, above all, the construction site were determined by the Namibian government without public opinion forming and the population was not given extensive information.
location
The museum was built in the historic center of Windhoek on the site of the equestrian monument . This was decidedly rejected by many different groups of the population, as it would destroy the historic center. In a non-representative survey of 1,427 colored people, 87 percent spoke out against the relocation of the equestrian monument.
Construction work
Another controversy is the fact that the new museum was planned and built by the North Korean construction company Mansudae Overseas Projects, so that the high Namibian unemployment is not even counteracted by state construction measures. According to official information, this decision was made because no Namibian company has the technical capabilities for such a project.
Involving the public
According to an interview on September 30th, 2009 with the responsible minister Helmut Angula of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport , the population, the city of Windhoek and the Monument Council were informed in detail about the project and its dimensions. However, the city confirmed on October 21, 2009 that it did not have any information, that the Monument Council had been "informed" and that no information had otherwise been made public. The construction remained a great mystery, with the first picture appearing on October 21, 2009.
Surname
Even before construction began on the museum, the responsible ministry announced that the museum would be named "Independence Memorial Museum". In mid-June 2011, the opposition party SWANU made the proposal to rename the place “Genocide Remembrance Center”; as a reminder of the genocide at the time of German South West Africa and the concentration camp that (allegedly) existed at the construction site . This proposal was controversial as the museum is to be open to all of Namibian history. However, the parliamentary application for the renaming failed for formal reasons, as it was not dealt with in time before the start of the winter break.
See also
Web links
- National Museum of Namibia. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007 ; Retrieved March 2, 2013 .
- Ulrike Laufer: National history as a liberation saga: The Independence Memorial Museum in Namibia , November 2014, on Zeitgeschichte-online .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Compromise on the equestrian monument. Allgemeine Zeitung (Windhoek) , October 22, 2013, archived from the original on October 25, 2013 ; Retrieved October 24, 2013 .
- ^ AZ Allgemeine Zeitung - triangular and five-story
- ↑ a b Museum breaks all standards
- ↑ Protzbau in Windhoek drops the covers . Allgemeine Zeitung, August 5, 2011 ( Memento of November 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ AZ Allgemeine Zeitung - Multimedia Museum
- ↑ There is a lack of technical staff everywhere, Allgemeine Zeitung, May 12, 2010
- ↑ Memorial building soon to be completed, Allgemeine Zeitung, March 18, 2011
- ↑ Alte Feste not affected by new museum, Namibian sun, March 22, 2011 ( Memento from July 14, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ namibiansun.com: Historic museum nears completionHISTORIC ( memento of March 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) , December 29, 2011, accessed on January 3, 2012
- ↑ Address of the President at the opening ( memento from April 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Restaurant in the NIMMS (National Independence Memorial Museum Restaurant)
- ↑ The new regime wants to be visible
- ↑ AZ Allgemeine Zeitung Survey: Hardly any approval of Reiter-Umzug
- ↑ AZ Allgemeine Zeitung - The rulers' need for validity ( Memento from August 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ AZ Allgemeine Zeitung - North Koreans build for 60 million
- ↑ State requires command height
- ↑ Swanu wants 1904 prison camp renamed, Informanté, June 15, 2011
- ↑ Allgemeine Zeitung from August 5, 2011: Protzbau in Windhoek drops the covers ( Memento from November 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 22 ° 34 ′ 8 ″ S , 17 ° 5 ′ 17 ″ E