The architecture of the seaside town of Swakopmund on Namibia's windswept Atlantic coast is distinctly Teutonic, reflecting the country's colonial past as the Protectorate of German South-West Africa from the late 19th century until the end of the Great War. This fine old building _ the ornate Bahnhof - was built in 1901 for the German Railway Authority and served as a railway station for the Swakopmund to Windhoek line. At that time the town was strategically very important, being the only harbour in German South-West Africa. The building was declared a National Monument in 1972 and is now a hotel.Purros