History, Monuments, Ruins, and Colonial Nostalgia in Namibia: German Tourist Swakopmund and the Marinedenkmal.

In Namibia today there is an ongoing controversy over the persistence and recovery of historical memory as related to the existing German colonial monuments of the past. This was particularly evident in the controversy surrounding the removal of the Reiterdenkmal, an equestrian monument erected in 1912 in Windhoek to honor German soldiers who died in the Herero War.In contrast to this monument the Marinedenkmal (Marine Memorial) in the city of Swakopmund still stands as a memorial to the German suppression of the Herero and Nama, despite demands for its removal. Swakopmund is the center of the small, but influential, percentage of German speakers in Namibia. So it is not surprising that they invoke such terms as "identity," "tradition," "history," and "beauty," as well as economics in the form of German and international tourism in defense of the Marine Memorial. Such tourism has also taken the form of "celebrity" and "film/media" tourism. But even in the colonial nostalgia infused Swakopmund demands for the removal of this monument have only intensified. In the battle over historical memory and a new national commemoration, a white German Swakopmund tourist colonial theme park, German melancholic ruingazing and a Hollywood simulated, hyper-real version of Namibia must not be allowed to eclipse history in Namibia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]