Alte Gefängnis (Old Prison)

Swakopmund


This impressive 1909 structure, on Nordring St, was built as a prison, but if you didn’t know this, you’d swear it was either an early train station or a health-spa hotel. The main building was used only for staff housing, while the prisoners were relegated to much less opulent quarters on one side.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Swakopmund attractions

1. Bahnhof (Railway Station)

0.29 MILES

This ornate railway station, built in 1901 as the terminal for the Kaiserliche Eisenbahn Verwaltung (Imperial Railway Authority), connected Swakopmund to…

2. German Evangelical Lutheran Church

0.45 MILES

This neo-baroque church was built in 1906 to accommodate the growing Lutheran congregation of Dr Heinrich Vedde – it still holds regular services.

3. Kristall Galerie

0.47 MILES

This architecturally astute gallery features some of the planet’s most incredible crystal formations, including the largest quartz crystal that has ever…

4. Old German School

0.48 MILES

The 1912 baroque-style Old German School was the result of a 1912 competition, which was won by budding German architect Emil Krause.

5. OMEG Haus

0.49 MILES

Thanks to the narrow-gauge railway to the coast, the colonial company Otavi Minen und Eisenbahn Gesellschaft (OMEG), which oversaw the rich Otavi and…

6. Living Desert Snake Park

0.49 MILES

This park houses an array of serpentine sorts. The owner knows everything you’d ever want to know – or not know – about snakes, scorpions, spiders and…

7. Altes Amtsgericht

0.52 MILES

This gabled building, on the corner of Garnison and Bahnhof Sts, was constructed in 1908 as a private school. When the funds ran out, the government took…

8. Litfass-Saule

0.53 MILES

In 1855, the Berlin printer Litfass came up with the notion of erecting advertising pillars on German street corners. For the citizens of early Swakopmund…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "namibia/western-namibia/swakopmund/attractions/alte-gefaengnis-old-prison/a/poi-sig/463940/355536",
      "destination": "Swakopmund",
      "continent": "Africa",
      "country": "Namibia",
      "city": "Swakopmund",
      "position": "superzone"
    }