The architecture of the seaside town of Swakopmund on Namibia's windswept Atlantic coast is distinctly Teutonic, reflecting the country's colonial past as the Protectorate of German South-West Africa from the late 19th century until the end of the Great War. This fine old building was built in 1906 when the town was strategically very important, being the country's only harbour. At that time, the larger harbour at Walvis Bay, a short distance to the south, was under British control.Purros