Namibia was, due to its barren coastline, colonised by the Europeans as one of the last African countries. It was the German merchant and adventurer Adolf Luederitz from Bremen, who bought in 1883 the bay of Angra Pequeña from Nama Chief Joseph Fredericks from Bethanien. He also bought the area in a 20 mile radius around the bay. The purchase price was then 10 000 Reichsmark and 260 guns. The bay is today known as Luederitz Bay.
In 1884, the German Empire took over the "protection" of Luederitz' possessions. A tiny corps of the "Kaiserliche Marine" landed in the bay and raised the German flag. From 1884 to 1914, Namibia was a "German Protectorate" called "Deutsch Südwestafrika". The German Empire sent the "Deutsche Schutztruppe" (Protection Corps). It had the task to transform the area between Oranje and Kunene into a German colony. German settlers were supposed to buy land and freely and safely establish farms. For this purpose the indigenous population, mainly Nama and Herero, was to be subjugated.
