Abbabis

Abbabis is a disused railway station southwest of Karibib in the Erongo Region of western Namibia on the 600 mm (1 ft 11 58 in) dismantled narrow gauge Swakopmund–Windhoek railway line established in 1900.[1][2] When this line was converted to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) from 1910 onwards, it lo longer passed Abbabis.[3]

Ababis station
Abbabis station
Former convalescent home

The etymology of the station is not clear: Either it is from the Khoikhoi language for 'red spot',[4] or from Nama language abas for 'gourd', as in the case of a farm approximately 300 km (200 miles) further south.[5]

Near to the station was a German convalescent home (Genesungsheim), in which the soldiers of the imperial protection force (Schutztruppen) could recover. A ruin of its office building is still visible on a paddock. The soldiers camped in tents and barracks.[6][7] The rails have long been lifted. The station building has been extended at its front and rear. It is now used as a private residence. The water supply is still from the old well.[6]

References

  1. Martin Wollmann: DSWA Staatsbahn Karte (German).
  2. Namibia Railways – SL 61: Passenger Stations & Stops, version of 27 October 2007, §9 State Northern Rly (SNR), p. 2.
  3. Dierks, Klaus. "The Development of the Namibian Railway Network. The Rail History Until the 1990s". www.klausdierks.com. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  4. Peter Edmund Raper: New Dictionary of South African Place Names. Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg & Cape Town, 2004.
  5. Walter Moritz: Aus den alten Tagen in Südwest: Ababis, Erlebnisse eines Albert Voigts (German).
  6. Martin Wollmann: Die Staatsbahn Swakopmund-Windhuk, Bahnhof Abbabis, km 165,65 (German, with many historic and modern photos).
  7. Erich von Salzmann: Im Kampfe gegen die Herero. Рипол Классик, 1905 (German).


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