{"id":225,"date":"2018-10-30T17:37:05","date_gmt":"2018-10-30T15:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hakos-astrofarm.com\/en\/?page_id=225"},"modified":"2019-10-26T03:04:59","modified_gmt":"2019-10-26T01:04:59","slug":"farm-geschichte","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hakos-astrofarm.com\/en\/farm-geschichte\/","title":{"rendered":"Farm History"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walter Straube<\/strong><\/p>\n

Founder of the Hakos Astro Farm<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Walter was born in 1937 in Windhoek, South West Africa.\u00a0 He belongs to the first generation that considered Southwest Africa, today’s Namibia, as their home country.\u00a0 His parents immigrated from Silesia\/Germany, with his father arriving in the country in 1904 and his mother in 1936. Walter’s father bought the neighboring farm Hohenheim in 1938.<\/p>\n

His schooling years were spent in Windhoek and only during school holidays could Walter return home to the farm some 130 km away.\u00a0 He completed his apprenticeship at the Windhoeker Maschinenfabrik as a welder, fitter and turner.\u00a0 Then the desire to travel and explore led him to Germany for almost a year.\u00a0 Walter married Elisabeth in 1960 and they were granted 4 children.\u00a0 They lived for four years in Walvis Bay, where Walter worked at a machine shop and shipyard.\u00a0 In 1966, the family moved to the farm Hohenheim.\u00a0 Here, Walter tirelessly built up the farm:\u00a0 erecting fences, bulldozing tracks and dams, drilling bore holes, breeding sheep and cattle, building, repairing … ‘farmer’ is arguably the most versatile occupation there is.\u00a0 This requires independence and self-sufficiency, i.e. ‘to make a plan’ in every life situation – and in this Walter was a true Master!<\/p>\n

Walter was also intensively involved in the construction and maintenance of the Gamsberg mountain project, where the Max Plank Institute operated an observatory.\u00a0 In 1984 Walter bought the neighbouring farm Hakos, because he had a vision:\u00a0 a guest farm with a focus on astronomy!\u00a0 Within 10 years, he built up the infrastructure for the guest farm, with the doors opening in 1998.\u00a0 Hakos has found its special charm among astronomers and nature lovers.\u00a0 Together with Waltraud and Friedhelm, Walter managed the guest farm Hakos and the cattle farm Hohenheim.\u00a0 One of his main priorites remained taking care of the water supply.\u00a0 ‘Retirement’ was a foreign word for Walter and so he continued to build on his life’s masterpiece, his ‘university’.\u00a0 A guest affirmed:\u00a0 ‘Walter is part of the bedrock of Namibia’.<\/p>\n

‘Why gaze into the distance when happiness lies within your ambit!’\u00a0 This attitude gave Walter the strength and confidence to overcome difficulties and hard times.<\/p>\n

His life never stood still.\u00a0 Walter was full of ideas and life energy and reflected that he should reach an age of at least 150 years in order to achieve this.\u00a0 At the age of 78, however, Walter was taken away from his family and life –<\/p>\n

… Walter’s circle of life has closed …<\/p>\n

Walter was unique – with amazing foresight, the strength to implement just about anything and an unshakeable sense of humour with which he defied even his illness for so many years.\u00a0 Walter’s strength was not in philosophising but in concrete action.\u00a0 Without fear and tireless, his zest for action and creative genius accompanied him his whole life – until the end.\u00a0 Efficient and capable, – a part of an indefatigable generation!\u00a0 His life’s work is visible, tangible – wherever one looks at Hakos and Hohenheim, everything bears his signature.\u00a0 He was a farmer with body and soul;\u00a0 he loved the metalwork;\u00a0 he loved working with his tractor;\u00a0 Walter enjoyed nature, the sunset and a roaring campfire, the sound of his harmonica and singing;\u00a0 he had a great willingness to help and his humour accompanied him until the end of his life.\u00a0 Walter loved life – and he lived it in abundance.<\/p>\n

The natural elements were of great importance to Walter – the sun, moon and the starry sky.\u00a0 With every sunset he reflected contemplatively upon the day – he had a special relationship to the sun.\u00a0 The moon was a constant guide to weather changes, clouds and rain – essential harbingers for a farmer.<\/p>\n

So now Walter rides on his star, the sun, and with every new day his warmth radiates into our lives!<\/p>\n

Walter fell asleep in the arms and the love of his family<\/p>\n

Rest in Peace<\/p>\n

29.1.1937 \u2013 28.9.2015<\/p>\n

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Walter’s grave on the farm with star trails circling around the celestial south pole (Image: Elmar Rixen)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

The birth of Astronomy in Namibia
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Elisabeth Straube<\/p>\n

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I tied the knot in 1960 and joined my husband Walter, on his family farm \u2018Hohenheim\u2019 in the Khomas Hochland of South West Africa, now Namibia.\u00a0 Walter was a trained and qualified welder, fitter and turner.\u00a0 I had just completed my qualification in Germany in domestic science for the hospitality industry including hotels, hospitals and large institutions. Walter\u2019s parents farmed with cattle and karakul sheep and we were given the flock of sheep to farm with.\u00a0 Within the first year, foot-and \u2013mouth disease surfaced in Namibia and all trade with livestock came to a halt.\u00a0 By now we had our first child and needed to support ourselves so Walter managed to secure a job in Walvis Bay in the Shipyard.\u00a0 We moved with all our belongings across the Namib Desert in our open Willys Jeep.\u00a0 \u00a0Walter had welded our metal bed onto the Jeep like a roof rack with mattress on top and below it, a pram, a table, two chairs, two suitcases, a cool box with home-preserved veggies and our 6-week old baby in a cardboard box between us \u2026\u2026 and off we went.<\/p>\n

In 1966, we returned to the farm with three children, a tractor and trailer, our Willys Jeep and a new Chevrolet pickup.\u00a0 Whilst I managed our home and the children, Walter worked many extra hours and was very successful.\u00a0 Back on the farm we took over the farming operation and soon we were a complete family with four children.<\/p>\n

1968 marked a new era, for our family, Namibia, and Science on an international level.\u00a0 For 60 years already, German Astronomers had nurtured a dream \u2013 to have an Observatory in the Southern Hemisphere.\u00a0 However, this was only possible within a large research organisation and now the Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) for Astronomy took on this project, with Heidelberg\/Germany as its home base.\u00a0 They now needed to find the most suitable location in the Southern Hemisphere with optimal light- and climatic conditions.\u00a0 Chile, Argentina and Australia were considered but it was the Gamsberg Mountain in Namibia that proved to be most suitable after initial research was completed.<\/p>\n

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Note the track winding up the steep mountainside<\/p><\/div>\n

It was a formidable undertaking.\u00a0 The Gamsberg is Namibia\u2019s 3rd<\/sup> highest mountain at 2347m amsl, towering like an \u2018inselberg\u2019 over the Great Western Escarpment with its steep inclines of granite below and a 30m thick quartzite layer on top.\u00a0 With the Gamsberg being in close proximity to our farm, Walter was employed by the MPI and development took place from 1970-1972:\u00a0 first a road had to be built, which formed a serpentine track with hair-bend curves and the last incline at 43\u02da through the quarzite layer.\u00a0 Two houses, a workshop and two observatories were erected on the perfectly flat mountain surface measuring 2.4 sq km.\u00a0 Water and all the neccessary material had to be driven up the mountain by Land Rover.\u00a0 As the track was so steep, Walter welded the construction steel meant for houses and observatories to the vehicle\u2019s loading frame to prevent it from sliding down.\u00a0 There was nothing that Walter could not do \u2013 he always made a plan!\u00a0 Meanwhile, we were also farming and I found myself counting sheep, dealing with farm workers, accommodating Astronomers, caring for our family … all never ending tasks … but I loved it!<\/p>\n

Whilst the Gamsberg Observatories\u00a0 were manned by Max-Planck Astronomy researchers, the first amateur Astronomers arrived on our farm to study and photograph the night sky.\u00a0 This was the beginning of our Guest farm, with just three basic rooms to rent out.\u00a0 Astronomers would stay for 2-3 weeks.\u00a0 Of the first to arrive was Dr Hans Vehrenberg, a renowned Astronomer, Telescope dealer, Author and Publisher, to complete his Astronomical Atlas of the Southern Hemisphere, whilst recording his observations from the telescope platforms that Walter had built.\u00a0 The dry winter months with clear skies became a hive of activity for the next 20 years with Astronomers coming mainly from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. \u00a0\u00a0A new world was opened to us with fascinating discoveries of stars, planets and galaxies \u2013 beyond anything we could have imagined. \u00a0This was enhanced by the amazing visuals through telescopes and prints produced from the night sky.\u00a0 \u00a0Walter soon enthusiastically embraced his own astro-photography, whilst I enjoyed the encounters and providing hospitality to Astronomers, many of whom became good friends.<\/p>\n

In 1975, Walter and I visited Germany and were able to witness the vast extent of the Max-Planck-Institute\u2019s Research Observatories in Heidelberg.\u00a0 \u00a0We also enjoyed the privilege of visiting the latest, largest telescope in manufacture by the firm Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen.\u00a0 It was an unbelievable experience \u2013 so large was this telescope that the manufacturing hall measured many stories high so that we as people felt like ants standing beside it.<\/p>\n

In 1984, our neighbouring farm Hakos came onto the market.\u00a0 Walter had a great vision \u2013 to build up a Guest farm with a focus on Astronomy!\u00a0 Farm Hakos, situated on the Great Escarpment with very mountainous terrain was not really suitable for farming, however, perfectly suited for Astronomy.\u00a0 Walter bought the farm.\u00a0 It took him 10 years to build-up the Guest infrastructure \u2013 all by his own hand with the help of farm labourers and prisoners on parole \u2013 a new beginning in many ways! \u00a0The basic farm house was refurbished:\u00a0 en-suite rooms added and\u00a0 a \u2018wide-vista\u2018 dining area created, with an indoor swimming pool blasted from the rocks and balconies with views far across the Namib Desert. \u00a0We also built one Observatory, which was equiped with a retractable roof and telescope \u2013 this became the \u2018Hans Vehrenberg Observatory\u2018 in honour of our very first and much loved Astronomer guest in 1970. \u00a0In 1996 Hakos Guest Farm opened its doors with 10 guest rooms!<\/p>\n

Telescope platforms were erected and soon the first private Observatory was built.\u00a0 Astronomers started pouring in from Germany.\u00a0 The previous farmer had a pig farm \u2013 these old pigstys were converted into Observatories and in 1999 the \u2018Internationale Amateursternwarte\u2019 (IAS) (International Amateur Observatory) was established with its home base on our farm, Hakos.\u00a0 Our daughter Waltraud became involved in the guest business and was soon joined by her future husband, Friedhelm.\u00a0 Together we grew into a new age.<\/p>\n

Astronomers from all over the world arrived with their telescopes and camera equipment.\u00a0 More guest rooms were built, observatories added, outdoor telescope platforms built, the dining area extended and huge permanently installed telescopes were added by the IAS. \u00a0Being self-sufficient in every way, not only water and electricity requirements grew, but also the age of computers and internet became essential enablers in the astro-business, leading to sought-after remote controlled Observatories.<\/p>\n

Today, 22 years later, Astronomers, international student- and \u2018Studiosus\u2019 travel groups as well as self-drive travellers frequent Hakos.\u00a0 We now have 15 guest rooms, 4 private observatories, the IAS complex with 5 observatories, 10+ telescope platforms and 7 remote-observatories.\u00a0 The travel industry in Namibia has grown tremendously in the last 10 years and we have a newly-refurbished, stylish campsite with incredible vistas over the surrounding mountain-scape.\u00a0 Guests may also enjoy our Planet walk, leading to \u2018Walter\u2019s Point\u2019 with an amazing view into the vast Namib Desert and magnificent sunsets!<\/p>\n

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IAS Dome-observatory (foreground) and observatories with horizontal retractable roofs (background)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Telescopes on outdoor platforms, in preparation for viewing the night sky<\/p><\/div>\n

Waltraud and Friedhelm now take pride in running the Guest farm and welcoming their guests, many of which have become family friends after 20 years of regular Astro-visits.\u00a0 Whilst some Astronomers bring their own telescopes or belong to the IAS (now over 100 members), others can also rent astronomical equipment from Hakos.\u00a0 Travellers and novices alike may enjoy an \u2018Introduction to Stargazing\u2019 evening \u00a0including telescope viewings \u2026 for above our farm, is a deep and brilliant night sky with the Milky Way draped across the heavens!<\/p>\n

2019 will be marked by the arrival of a large IAS telescope with a mirror diameter of 80 cm.\u00a0 This will make Farm Hakos the most prominent Private Observatory in the Southern Hemisphere!<\/p>\n

Walter has materialised his vision during his lifetime!\u00a0 He became known as \u2018The Father of Astronomy in Namibia\u2019 and in our universe above, there is a small planet that carries his name, scientifically described as: \u00a0\u2018WalterStraube (157015)<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n

written by Elisabeth Straube, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walter Straube Founder of the Hakos Astro Farm Walter was born in 1937 in Windhoek, South West Africa.\u00a0 He belongs to the first generation that considered Southwest Africa, today’s Namibia, as their home country.\u00a0...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/Pblbvd-3D","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hakos-astrofarm.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/225"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hakos-astrofarm.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hakos-astrofarm.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hakos-astrofarm.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hakos-astrofarm.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":69,"href":"https:\/\/www.hakos-astrofarm.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2956,"href":"https:\/\/www.hakos-astrofarm.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/225\/revisions\/2956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hakos-astrofarm.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}