Rehoboth
Namibia

The small town of Rehoboth lies 90 kilometres south of Windhoek on the National Road B1. It has a strong spring and was founded in 1844 as a mission station. But because of the frequent attacks and lootings by the Namas, it was abandoned a few years later. In 1870, a "trek" of about 100 Baster families from the Cape reached the deserted place and settled here. The Basters (Afrikaans for "bastards") are racially mixed descendants of Khoikhoi women and Boerish immigrants from the Cape.

In 1885, the Rehoboth Basters reached a protection and friendship agreement with the German colonial administration, which granted them a great amount of autonomy. During the First World War, the Rehoboth Basters turned against the Germans and refused to fight against the South Africans, which, during the following South African occupation, gained them quite a few privileges, despite the rule of Apartheid law.