Etymology and pre-colonial history The area around Gobabis and along the
Nossob River had a strong population of elephants. The settlement itself was a base camp for
ivory hunters and a trading post for elephant tusks. In 1856 a
mission station was established by one Friederich Eggert of the
Rhenish Missionary Society. In the latter half of the 19th century and the early 20th century several conflicts flared up between the
Ovambanderu and the Khauas Khoikhoi, as well as between the settlers and the indigenous people. Gobabis is in an area where the
Herero and the
Nama people fought wars against one another, as well as with settlers from the
Cape colony that occupied the land. According to oral tradition, the earliest name for the settlement in this area was the
Khoekhoegowab word ǂKhoandabes,
the place where the elephant came to lick. The reason for this name is speculated to be that elephant tusks that would crack in the dry and hot climate of the Omaheke were at times stored right in the settlement's well. Later the settlement was referred to as "Gobabis" by the Whites, this expression was likely derived from goba (argue, quarrel) and bis (place):
The place where people quarreled. A common earlier interpretation of the name, ǂkhoa (Elephant) -bes (place),
Elephant fountain, was introduced by
Heinrich Vedder and gained wide acceptance. Vedder also opined that it was
Amraal Lambert,
Captain of the Kaiǀkhauan (Khauas Nama) who called the place Gobabis because he could not pronounce
ǂKoabes.{{cite book
Colonial The Gobabis district was proclaimed by the
German authorities in February 1894 and in June the following year Gobabis was occupied by a German garrison. While the military fort, built in 1896–7, has long since disappeared, one of the few buildings dating back to that era is the
field hospital, or Lazarett, which has been declared a national monument. ==Geography==