Half a Century of Weaving in Namibia

The Background – Karakul sheep were not indigenous to Namibia. They were first brought to the former German colony of Deutsch Südwestafrika in 1906. The German furriers’ company Thorer imported them from Uzbekistan. Of course nobody thought of carpets back then. Rather, the focus was on the pelts of newly born lambs which were traded as 'black diamonds' on auctions in Europe and fetched high prices. The wool of the ewes, on the other hand, was usually burned or used for reinforcing muddy tracks after the rains. It was no different at farm Ibenstein near Dordabis.

As the first Karakul sheep arrives on Namibian soil in 1906, Marianne Stauch enters the world in Berlin. Two years later her father August Stauch attains fabulous riches in what was then the colony of German South West Africa: he is stationmaster at Grasplatz on the railway line Lüderitz to Aus. After his employee Zacharias Lewala has picked up a diamond there, Stauch is the first to obtain mining rights in the area. He uses some of the money he makes with diamonds to buy, amongst others, the farms Dordabis and Haribes, where later on he keeps Karakul sheep.

The beginnings – His daughter Marianne studies art at the Bauhaus School and in 1930 marries Nikolai Krafft. In 1931 the couple moves from Germany to Dordabis. When the father-in-law comes for a visit he notices that the wool of Karakul sheep is carelessly discarded. He hails from Russia and knows that the nomadic Sart people in the Buchara use Karakul wool for knotting carpets. Thus he comes up with the idea to utilize the wool for carpet making and thereby offer an additional income to family members of farm labourers.

However, Marianne Krafft will be able to implement the idea only years later, after World War II: in 1952 a master of weaving arrives from Germany. Work starts on 2 May, and after several weeks the first carpet is ready. There is a lot of experimenting in the early days: at first carpets are knotted, but from the eighties onwards they are woven only, because less time and wool is needed for weaving. At first she only uses natural colours, later she also starts dying. And while designs are dominated by abstract, geometrical patterns in the Bauhaus style at first, animal themes created by the weavers are added from 1965 at the suggestion of German master of weaving, Sabine Pannier.

Extension and relocation – In 1974, at the age of 68, Marianne Krafft passes the weaving workshop on to her daughter Berenike and husband Frank Gebhardt. Berenike has studied textile design and sets out to create woven works of art which feature themes of well-known artists like Namibians Helena Brandt and Konnie Zander or John Piper of Britain. In 1980 the workshop moves to larger premises on farm Klein Ibenstein, about 4 km from Dordabis. At the same time cottages for the employees and their families are built in the vicinity. A village starts to form at Klein Ibenstein and soon boasts a hundred inhabitants. On 21 November 1992 Marianne Krafft dies at the age of 86. Unbeknown to her, her grand-daughter Anne Gebhardt starts to train as a manual weaver in Siegen, Germany, in 1995.

A third generation is weaving - In August 2002 the family celebrates a weaving tradition of half a century on farm Ibenstein / Klein Ibenstein with an exhibition in the National Gallery in Windhoek. At the same time yet another generation is in the process of taking over. Step by step Berenike Gebhardt passes the company on to her daughter Anne and husband Wolfgang Ramdohr, who moved to Klein Ibenstein already in November 2001. Anne Ramdohr is in charge of the production side, while Wolfgang, a zoologist, takes care of administration, marketing and sales. Since 2001, by the way, Ibenstein Weavers also has a large stand in the Namibia Crafts Centre at the Old Brewery complex in Windhoek.

In March 2005 the young Ramdohr couple invests a considerable sum into alterations and extensions at the weaving workshop as well as the purchasing of a semi-automatic loom for fabrics. The production of fabrics from undyed natural fibres such as bamboo, silk, linen and cotton is intended to become the company’s second pillar – and to contribute to the future job security of the 17 employees at Klein Ibenstein.