Baumgartsbrunn

Baumgartsbrunn
farmstead settlement
Baumgartsbrunn Location in Namibia
Coordinates: 22°36′0″S 16°47′0″E / 22.60000°S 16.78333°E
Country	Namibia
Region	Khomas Region
Constituency	Windhoek Rural
Elevation[1]	5,764 ft (1,757 m)

Baumgartsbrunn is a farmstead and settlement in the Khomas Region of central Namibia, situated on the C28 approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Windhoek.

Baumgartsbrunn known for the educational projects set up by Helmut Bleks, and after his death supported by the Helmut Bleks Foundation and other donors. Bleks, the farm owner in the 1970s, established a farm school, today the government boarding school Primary School Baumgartsbrunn, on the farm land in 1973.^[2][3]

In 1991 the Institute for Domestic Science & Agriculture, a vocational school for local women, was added. The school offers training for domestic workers but its qualifications are not accredited, a situation that has led to protests by the students. Namibia's ruling SWAPO party called for a take-over of the Helmut Bleks Foundation by the Namibian government.^[4]

Surrounding the school a small settlement has evolved over the years, mainly consisting of people from the ǀKhomanin clan of the Damara people. Following disputes over land and grazing rights, the foundation owning the farm granted exclusive settling and land use rights on 300 hectares (740 acres) to the ǀKhomanin in 2009.^[5]

References

1. "Baumgartsbrunn / Khomas". getamap.net. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
2. "Kurzdarstellung des Projekts" [Project Exposé] (in German). bürger:sinn:stiftung. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
3. "Das Schuldorf Baumgartsbrunn in Namibia" [The School Village Baumgartsbrunn in Namibia] (in German). Schillergymnasium, Münster. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
4. Upula, Levi. ""Take over of Helmut Bleks Foundation", government urged". SWAPO. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
5. "Einigung erzielt auf Baumgartsbrunn" [Agreement Reached at Baumgartsbrunn]. Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 2 June 2009.