A statue of a German colonial ruler has been removed from its place outside the city of Windhoek in Namibia. Windhoek City Council made the decision, spokesman Harold Akwenye said on Wednesday. The statue of Curt de François will be taken to the Independence Museum for safekeeping. What will happen to her in the long term is still unclear.

Former Windhoek City Mayor Job Amupanda told the German Press Agency that the statue's removal was "the beginning of a process to decolonize Windhoek."

The discourse about the statue began in 2020 with a petition by the Namibian activist Hildegard Titus. The petition has increased the pressure on the city council, Titus told the German Press Agency on Wednesday. Curt von François stands for Windhoek's violent past. It should therefore not be glorified.

François served as an officer in the imperial colonial troops and was credited with founding the city of Windhoek. Historians now doubt this. They assume that François gave the command for a brutal attack by the German soldiers at Hornkranz, in which several children and women died.

Until 1915, the colony "German South West Africa" ​​existed in what is now Namibia. The German Reich brutally suppressed uprisings against its rule. A mass murder took place during the Herero and Nama War of 1904-1908, which is considered the first genocide of the 20th century. The federal government and the government of Namibia have been negotiating a proposed reconciliation agreement for a long time.