Historic Cape Cross stone returns to Namibia from Germany

   WINDHOEK, Aug. 14  -- The Historic Cape Cross has returned to Namibia from Germany, a government official said here Wednesday.
   Absalom Absalom, public relations officer in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, said that the Cape Cross, a stone column whose central point is crowned with a Christian cross, arrived in the country in August 2019.
   The repatriation follows the request for the return of the Cape Cross stone to the Sub-Saharan nation by the Namibian government in June 2017, through its Ambassador to Germany Andreas Guibeb.
   The Cape Cross is part of the collection of the Foundation German Historical Museum and has been on display in the permanent exhibition since 2006. 
   In 1486, the Cape Cross stone was erected by Portuguese sailors on the southwest coast of Africa (South-West Africa), on the territory of present-day Namibia. It served as a symbol of orientation for traveling subsequent seafarers who circled the African coast. In 1894, when South-West Africa was declared a German "protectorate", the imperial Navy took the column to Berlin.
  The official handover event is tentatively slated for October this year at a site in the country's western Erongo region, according to Absalom.
   The return of the Cape Cross stone is part of the wider array of agreements and cooperation of the two governments.Xinhua