#PE85
Ca. 1900s
Oblong Octavo (ca. 24.5 x 17 cm or 9 ½ x 6 ¾ in). 12 black/brown cardstock leaves. 25 mounted gelatin silver photographs ca. 17.5 x 12.5 cm (7 x 4 ¾ in). 15 images with period ink German captions. Period grey cardstock album fastened with string with printed illustration of a windmill on front board. Boards with mild tears on edges; mounts slightly age-toned; a few photos mildly faded, but overall a good album of interesting photos.
A collection of 25 photographs showing German South West Africa (present-day Namibia) at the beginning of the 20th century. Most of the album shows the settlement of Abbabis, built around a station on the Swakopmund–Windhoek railway line (built 1900). When the line was converted to a larger gauge, starting in 1910, the new route bypassed Abbabis.
10 photographs show Abbabis, including the train station, the convalescent home (Genesungsheim) used by the Imperial Protection Force, public gardens, and watering hole. They also show the men of “Barrack III” celebrating Christmas, Africans living at the settlement, and men butchering a pig.
Other photographs in the album include a train station and horse race in Okahandja, a group of Africans standing outside a brick building, and snapshots of wildlife (including cheetahs, a pangolin, and ostriches with eggs and chicks).
Overall, an interesting collection of photographs showing a short-lived train station in German South West Africa at the beginning of the 20th century.
A list of captions (spelling original): “Pferderennen in Okahandja [x2]”; “Bahnhofsgebäude Okahandja”; “Stationsgebäude Abbabis”; “Genesungsheim Abbabis [x2]”; “Schweineschlachten in Abbabis”; “Automobil”; “Weihnachten der Baracke III (Abbabis)”; “Weihnachtsbescherung Abbabis”; “Wasserstelle Abbabis”; “Durchgang bei Abbabis”; “Eingeborene von Abbabis”; “Gartenanlagen in Abbabis”; “Baracke III (Abbabis).”
