Heroes' Acre
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A huge, partly North-Korean designed, grandiose memorial complex outside Namibia’s capital Windhoek that honours those who fought and died in the long struggle of the Nation against German colonialism and for independence from South Africa.
>Combinations with other dark destinations
More background info: for general historical background see this separate chapter on Namibian history.
The monument is said to be the idea of independent Namibia’s “founding father” and first president Sam Nujoma (see Independence Museum). Construction began in mid-2001 and the monument was inaugurated in time for Heroes’ Day, 26 August, in 2002.
The fact that the North Korean Mansudae Art Studio's 'Overseas Projects' branch was commissioned to design and build the monument caused some controversy, especially since there was no open competition for the design plans. Another contentious issue was the spiralling costs – in the end the monument swallowed double the sum of money that was initially budgeted for it.
Namibia is not alone in this, though – a similar scenario also applied to the “African Renaissance Monument” in Dakar, Senegal. The Tiglachin Monument in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is another example of a North-Korean-built monument in Africa (several other African nations also had monuments and other structures built by the North Korean company, including Angola, Benin, Togo, Mozambique and the DR Congo). The model and inspiration for Namibia’s Heroes’ Acre is a monument complex of the same name in Zimbabwe, also designed and constructed by Mansudae Studio.
Namibia also commissioned three additional projects from Mansudae, the Independence Museum, the New State House (a government palace) and an as yet still unfinished military museum in Okahandja. The new genocide monument in front of the “Alte Feste” in Windhoek is also a work by Mansudae. All this makes Namibia one of the Studio’s prime international customers.
The quality of these monumental North Korean constructions is not always the best, though. It was noted as early as in 2005 that parts of the Heroes’ Acre structures were already beginning to “crumble”. When I was there (August 2022) it wasn’t too bad, so some maintenance work must have been carried out, though I too saw some crumbling bits of loose marble, concrete and damaged steps, though nothing major.
What there is to see: The North-Korean design (see above) “appeal” begins even before you get to the monument as such. The gate controlling access to the site (see below) is also built in a distinctive North Korean style, especially with the two bronze bas-reliefs of kneeling girls holding up wreaths. In the centre of the roundabout halfway to the main complex there’s yet another monument in such a style.
But it is the main monument that is clearly designed to blow visitors away – by its monumental size alone. It spreads out up a hillside in terraces almost 300m long and over 130m wide. At the bottom is a large parade ground and a grandstand that is said to accommodate up to 5000 people.
At the front of the terraces of the main monument is a structure that looks uncannily a bit like the German military cross. In front of this is an eternal flame, though no flame was visible when I was there.
You then ascend the steps to the side of this part to reach another, longer set of steps that lead up all the way to the top along the central axis.
To the side of this are the terraces with the space for a total of 174 graves, real or symbolic. Not all spaces are filled, so there’s still room for more heroes to come. On the lower levels are the more recent additions, while the top row is for historic national heroes who are actually buried elsewhere, so theirs are just honorary graves. These stones give just the name and an etched portrait image, other stones at real graves also feature at least the dates of birth and death, several also have quotes, either political ones associated with the person in question, or bits from the Bible.
To foreign visitors most of the names covered won’t mean much, if anything at all – except perhaps that of Hosea Kutako, if only because Windhoek’s International Airport is named after him (he was a Herero chief who played a major role in both the colonial times and in the fight against South African rule – born in 1870 and died in 1970 he lived to the grand age of 100!). Another name that might be familiar if you know some basics of Namibian history is Hendrik Witbooi (a significant Nama chief who was a key figure in the Nama’s revolt and guerilla war against the German colonialists, until he was killed in action in 1905).
The core of the complex is the 111 feet (34m) tall white obelisk at the top. In front of this stands a 26 feet (8m) tall bronze statue of a soldier wielding a hand grenade in one hand and carrying a machine gun in the other. This is supposed to be an “Unknown Soldier”, though his facial features very much resemble those of (a younger) Sam Nujoma (see above) himself. I doubt that is wholly coincidental. On the plinth is a line of text, a quote by Nujoma on the occasion of the inauguration of the monument, proclaiming: “Glory to the fallen heroes and heroines of the motherland Namibia!”. The fact that there’s a Nujoma quote at the feet of the bronze statue further feeds the association of that soldier figure with Nujoma rather than any unknown one.
Behind the Obelisk is a curved high wall featuring a series of huge bronze bas-reliefs. The execution of these is decidedly North-Korean! If you’ve ever seen such North-Korean socialist-realist artwork you would have guessed the origin of these reliefs even if you didn’t know that it was indeed Pyongyang’s Mansudae Art Studio that was behind the creation of these reliefs (see above). The scenes depicted include early battles with the colonialist German oppressors, another is a more modern war scene from the struggle for independence (including a helicopter having just been shot at and about to crash), and the final image on the right is unabashedly glorifying, showing a victorious Sam Nujoma carrying a Namibian flag high whilst being followed by grateful and admiring compatriots including women and children as well as soldiers in rank and file. It doesn’t get much more grandiosely ostentatious than this.
To the sides of the main part of the monument with the obelisk, statue and bas-reliefs stand two small stone pavilions. But they were locked when I was there and the glass doors are mirrored, so you can’t look in. Hence I have no idea what the purpose of these pavilions may be.
Finally, back at the bottom, there is also another building to the side of the grandstand, slightly set back from the parade ground. This is a fairly large single-storey flat-roofed structure that supposedly houses an on-site restaurant and shop; but this was closed at the time I was there (which was at Friday lunchtime – so I reckon it’s probably very rarely open at all).
I’ve read in other visitors’ reports and reviews that they often found themselves the only visitors, having the entire site to themselves. That was a bit different when I was there, as my visit coincided with that of a large group of schoolchildren with a bunch of teachers herding them around. They had arrived in three large minibuses. They posed for group photos and then were taken round the entire site, stopping in clusters around specific graves while being told about the person in question. So this was clearly a patriotic history class outing.
All in all, for me the monument complex was pretty much as I expected – and my expectations weren’t the highest. On balance they were somewhat exceeded, thanks in particular to those extremely North-Korean-esque socialist-realist bas-reliefs at the top. But as for the historial background, you won’t learn much here … next to nothing in fact. For that you have to head for the Independence Museum in the centre of Windhoek!
Location: a good six miles (10km) south of Windhoek, off the main north-south trunk road B1.
Google Maps locators:
Main monument: [-22.66379, 17.0783]
Gate: [-22.65899, 17.08037]
Turn-off from the B1: [-22.6549, 17.0788]
Access and costs: quite easy to reach by car; inexpensive.
Details: to get to the monument complex you need to drive – or get a taxi from Windhoek (there’s no public transport). Leave the city on the main north-south road that is the B1, heading south in the direction of Rehoboth until you come to the turn-off for the monument on the left – it’s signposted. The approach road takes you to the monumental gate. This is guarded and usually closed, so someone on duty has to open it for you.
Even though my guidebook said that admission was free, I had to pay a small fee (if I remember correctly it was something like 50N$, so not much, under three euros). For that I had to park and walk to the booth to the right of the gate before proceeding to the actual monument.
Then you follow the road, go through a roundabout turning right and then you come to the large parade ground where you can park. So no need to use any of the numerous parking spaces you pass en route to the roundabout (these are probably only for when there are larger gatherings, e.g. on Heroes’ Day, 26 August).
I haven’t been able to find out any details regarding opening times, but I would guess the site should be regularly staffed at least on weekdays during daylight hours. Better avoid getting there too early or late or on a Sunday.
Time required: around half an hour.
Combinations with other dark destinations: The main dark site in nearby Windhoek, the Independence Museum, is not only another example of a design by North Korea’s Mansudae Studio, it is also thematically related. In fact it is only there that you can learn something about the background to the monument and some of the people named there. So it really is a must-do combination.
Just behind the museum is the “Alte Feste” (‘old fort’), in front of which stands another North-Korean-esque monument, this one dedicated to the memory of the victims of the genocide against the Herero and Nama in the early 20th century (see Namibian history).
See also under Namibia in general.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: nothing nearby – except if you count the viewpoint on the hill behind the monument. This can be reached on foot or, in more comfort, by driving up the small road that leads south from the roundabout on the approach route behind the gate towards another car park (with more spaces than will will presumably ever be needed). The view is not the grandest – Windhoek in the distance lacks a distinctive skyline so it just looks like a bland conurbation amid dry bushland.
