Restoration workshop opened at the National Archives
Preserving historical documents and making them available to the public
"Right now there are some damaged records that cannot be made available to our employees or the public because of their fragile condition," says Muningandu Tjeriko, head of the Namibian National Archives.In light of this, the opening of the German-funded restoration workshop for documents and other records has come at the right time. After all, it is important to ensure transparency and to preserve the past for future generations.
For about three weeks, two employees of the state archives of Baden-Württemberg were in Windhoek and, together with the employees of the Namibian National Archives, set up a restoration workshop and trained the local staff. Among them were Ndamian Hangula and Antonette Madi. At the opening, Hangula showed what he has learned from the two Germans: He stirs a special document glue and then applies it to the back of a torn document. On top of this comes a wafer-thin cellulose paper that further stabilizes the tear. In the final step, another paper is placed over it for protection and weighted down with a sandbag to dry.
Hangula shows some old maps that have already been repaired in this way. They date back to colonial times, because the archive was founded in 1912 under German administration. The institution thus has the important task of preserving numerous historical documents on the country's colonial past. The diaries of Hendrik Witbooi, the leader of the Nama, are also part of the collection. Their return from Germany to Namibia in 2019 also marked the beginning of the cooperation between the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart and the Namibian National Archives.
According to Prof. Gerald Maier, president of the Baden-Württemberg State Archives, who was unable to attend the opening, the stated goal of the cooperation is "to promote the international transfer of know-how and the permanent preservation of the National Archives' historical sources and to improve public access to them." In addition, the joint colonial history is also to be worked through together, he said.
This was also emphasised by the German ambassador to Namibia, Herbert Beck, who was present at the opening. As a representative of the Namibian Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture (MEAC), the director responsible for archiving, Gerard Vries, thanked the Federal Republic of Germany for funding the institution. This had cost around
N$1.3 million. He also thanked Cornelia Bandow and Andrea Rendler for training the Namibian team.
The cooperation between the Baden-Württemberg state archives and the Namibian National Archives has not ended with the opening of the restoration workshop, but is to continue for another three years. The next training session for Namibian archivists in Germany is scheduled for August. At the end of the year, there will be another workshop in Namibia, because the National Archives want to train at least ten employees in the restoration of historical documents.