The death mask of Old Fritz

There was a time when many mountains, rivers and places in Namibia had Nama, Damara or Otjiherero names. Some places had more than one name over time, like Windhoek that was called /Ai-//gams (Fire water) in the early days and Otjomuise (The place of smoke) in the 1700s, referring to the hot springs in the area. In 1840 Jan Jonker called it Winterhoek, which was later adapted to Windhoek.

During German time in the late-1800s and early-1900s, they used their imaginations to name features in the landscape according to their own culture, often after the monarchy, and some of these still remain on maps today. The ‘Totenmaske vom Alten Fritz’ (Death mask of Old Fritz), the name of one of the small mountains near Windhoek, is one of the more obvious ones and one which always amuses me. The 20km route east of Windhoek to Kapps farm was slow going a century ago and the occupants of ox-wagons or those on foot must have had ample time for imagination. It took a day to get over the hills and reach the watershed of the mountains, also known as the Blue Heights, from which you had a good view of the Windhoek valley and the outcrop of rock north of Kapps farm that became known as ‘Totenmaske vom Alten Fritz’. Travellers would have noticed the prominent feature of the mountain and seen a resemblance of the highest peak to the nose of Frederick II (Friedrich II) of Prussia, as preserved in his death mask.

Fredrick the Great (1712-1786), nicknamed ‘Old Fritz’ (der Alte Fritz) was the last Prussian king, known for his military successes and his patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment. His humble grave (he left instructions to be buried next to his beloved greyhounds) is visited by people who honour him for something else, his role of promoting the potato in Prussia. And visitors often place potatoes on the gravestone.

Not all of us may be aware of Old Fritz’s history or his claims to fame, but we do have a geological feature that reminds us of his distinctive profile.