This postcolonial city tour through Swakopmund is guided from an Ovaherero perspective and led by Laidlaw Peringanda, a descendant of Ovaherero genocide survivors. Combining oral history, family memory, archival research and years of community activism, the tour explores how the genocide and German colonialism continue to shape Swakopmundtoday. Laidlaw has also collaborated with various international research nstitutes working on German colonialism and the genocide in Namibia, making the tour both deeply personal and historically grounded.
The tour begins at the contested colonial ‘Marine Denkmal’ and continues to the cemetery in Kramersdorf with unmarked graves of Ovaherero and Nama genocide victims, as well as the Swakopmund Genocide Museum in the township of Matutura, which Laidlaw founded to document the genocide through archival photographs, colonial-era documents and oral history.
Laidlaw is also actively involved in restoring and protecting unmarked graves inSwakopmund, working to ensure these sites of memory are recognised and preserved. This tour is for all those who want to look beyond Swakopmund’s colonial facade and gain a deeper understanding of the town’s dark history and its lasting impact today.
We are happy to organise your city tour with Laidlaw Peringanda.
Laidlaw Peringanda is a partner of Shared History Tours.
If you would like to book a Swakopmund City Tour with one of our partners or have any general inquiries, kindly click the “Request Information” button. Our team will getback to you shortly.
