Founded in Windhoek on 16 April 1969, the club has gathered the Swiss of this country around fondue, the Bundesfeier and friendship for more than half a century.
A call in the Allgemeine Zeitung brings the Swiss together. On 16 April the Schweizer Club Südwestafrika is founded, so that every Swiss in the country belongs.
The club shoots the federal programme at the Hamman range, with rifles lent by the Federal Military Department, until interest fades.
On 21 March Switzerland opens a Consulate General in Windhoek. The club takes its present name, Schweizer Club Namibia.
The club travels by train, with a salon bar and a dance carriage, to Hotel Aris. Chömmet alli zum Fäscht!
Pretoria serves Namibia from then on. The club carries on, and becomes all the more a meeting place for the Swiss.
At Fabienne Schuwey’s Farm Neuweiler the meadow becomes the Rütliwiese, with palms instead of firs and a dam instead of Lake Lucerne.
The Festschrift gathers half a century of the club's life. A small ember still glows.
On 30 September a new committee is elected unanimously. The club opens to every Swiss, in four languages, and to Namibia.
Namibia drawn in a fine line, and Switzerland held within it at Windhoek: a piece of home in the host country. The outline of Namibia has been the club's own since 1994.
| 1969–1973 | Dr. Hans W. Hartmann |
| 1973–1980 | Emmi Mutavdzic-Pulver |
| 1980–1981 | Willi Peter |
| 1981–1985 | Emmy Mutavdzic-Pulver |
| 1985–1988 | Eva Lubisch-Wagner |
| 1988–1989 | Willi Peter |
| 1989–1994 | Erika Morla |
| 1994–2013 | Peter Hess |
| 2013–2016 | Rudolf Imhof |
| 2016–2026 | Rudolf Imhof (as administrator, no committee) |
| 2026– | Daniel Caleb Vogt |
Posts are distributed by the committee and published here once decided.
Daniel Caleb VogtPresident
Marlene Caleb VogtVice-President
Artemis Marah KlauserCommittee member
Shavonne RuchCommittee member
Holger ElmeringCommittee member
Marianne ElmeringCommittee member
Daniel Caleb Vogt and Marlene Caleb Vogt were elected at the Extraordinary General Meeting of 30 September 2026, with Artemis Marah Klauser, Shavonne Ruch, Holger Elmering and Marianne Elmering.
They took on the club with one intention: that every Swiss in Namibia, and every friend of Switzerland, should find a home here, in all four languages.
“I see a great opportunity in this: a generation that built and carried the club for decades, and a younger one ready to take on responsibility.”
Rudolf Imhof, Former President of Swiss Club Namibia (2013–2016), to the members, 18 August 2026
A club where every Swiss in Namibia, and every friend of Switzerland, finds a home: visible, open, at ease in four languages, and a living bridge between the two countries. We want to carry the club to its sixtieth anniversary in 2029 stronger than it has ever been.
Both countries are home to us. We grew up in Switzerland and chose to live in Namibia, and our family is rooted in both. The club is where these two worlds meet, at the 1 August celebration, around a table, in a conversation that switches between languages.
Experience in leading companies and private associations, among them a private club in Geneva; the four national languages; presenting, broadcasting, communication and digital media; work at the United Nations in Geneva and ties to the diplomatic community; and years of forming young leaders.
To keep what exists: the long-standing members keep their place, and the club’s history is honoured. To open new doors: a contemporary website and presence, given to the club free of charge, a richer social and cultural life, and the 1 August celebration carried on every year.
We serve as a committee of six, with every member of the club. The committee is introduced below; portraits follow as they are taken.
Grew up near Zurich and has lived in several parts of Switzerland. An entrepreneur, he founded a holding company in Namibia with his wife Marlene and trains young leaders in the academy he built. He has led companies and private associations, among them a private club in Geneva. He speaks Swiss German, German, French and Italian at native level. Swiss with African roots, he is at home in both countries and builds bridges between them.
Grew up in Geneva and is Namibian by birth, so she knows both countries from her own life. Co-founder of the holding company, she brings experience in presenting, broadcasting, communication, production and digital media, and is a trained actress. She gives the club its public voice and reaches the Swiss who have not yet found it. She is deeply committed to philanthropy.
Grew up near Zurich and now lives permanently in Namibia. She has worked at the United Nations in Geneva and is a member of the Association of Diplomatic Spouses. Well connected in Namibia’s international and diplomatic community, she brings the club closer to it and tends its relations with the Swiss representations.
She was born in Namibia; her Swiss place of origin is Sumiswald, in the canton of Bern, and her family's background in hospitality spans both countries. An entrepreneur, business strategist and executive coach, she works across education, organisational development and business partnerships. She brings to the club her gift for understanding what people need and bringing the right people together.
The club's bulletin, in four languages, four times a year.
For more than thirty years it was “Euses Blettly”. From 2026 it is Panorama: one word in every language, and one horizon for the Alps and the Namib.
The inaugural issue appears on 21 December 2026.
Panorama appears on the equinoxes and solstices. When it is autumn in Windhoek it is spring in Zurich, so every issue carries both seasons in its name.
Independence Day and renewal.
The dry season, travel and the bush.
The 1 August, told in full.
Samichlaus and the year in review.
The club's progress, its initiatives and its new partnerships.
The country we live in: its people, its places and its news.
One country of the region, in depth.
A Swiss institution at work in Namibia, and a Namibian one with ties to Switzerland.
A member, in conversation.
Opportunities for business, schools and activities for families, openings for young professionals.
What has changed for travellers, visas and residence, in both directions.
A page from the club's records since 1969.
The three monthly Letters, gathered and expanded.
The dates of the coming quarter, Swiss, Namibian and regional.
About twenty-eight pages, in print and online. Every piece appears in its original language with summaries in the others, and the word from the Committee in all four. Between issues, the monthly Letter keeps members up to date.
Membership is the club's whole life, not a ticket to an evening. This is what every member receives.
The club's bulletin in four languages: researched reports on Switzerland, Namibia and the region, the club's life and its archive.
Dates, notices and what is happening, at the end of each month.
The Bundesfeier, Samichlaus, the fondue evenings and the General Meeting, at member rates.
A place in any forum: business, public affairs, culture, science, the young generation, the family, tourism and travel, and sport.
Personal orientation on passports, voting, pensions and arrival. Members' questions are answered first.
Swiss members vote at the General Meeting, and Friends of Switzerland after three consecutive years or for outstanding service; every member may speak and propose.
The club's records since 1969: the Festschrift, the bulletins and the photographs.
To Swiss associations, companies and institutions in Namibia, across the region and in Switzerland.
On WhatsApp: one community for members, with a group for announcements and one for each forum. The invitation comes with your welcome letter.
Not ready to join yet? Leave your name and where you live, and the club keeps you close:
Patrons and corporate members make possible what fees alone cannot carry: the archive, the forum of the young generation, the national day and a bulletin in four languages. The club names them with gratitude, in four places. Honorary members, and the missions and institutions that belong to the club, have their place here too.
A lasting place here, year by year: patrons by name, corporate members with their logo, a line about them and a link.
A roll of thanks in every issue. Once a year, each corporate member may present itself on a partners' page, prepared with the editors.
Thanked by name at the 1 August celebration and at the General Meeting. Corporate members take part in the Business & Trade forum.
Patrons receive their certificate in forest green, corporate members in lake blue, signed by the President.
The first patrons will be named here.
Become a patronLogo, name and link of the first corporate members.
Become a corporate memberConferred by the committee for service to the club, and named here for life. The Ambassador of Switzerland and the Consul General belong to the club by office.
Diplomatic missions and institutions that are members of the club, shown with their agreement.
EnquireNames and logos appear only with consent. A patron who prefers to give quietly is thanked as a friend of the club.
Every Swiss in Namibia is welcome, and so is every friend of Switzerland.
Membership becomes a yearly subscription starting 1 January 2027. You sign up online, and your membership runs for a year from the day you join. The committee sets the fees. Members of the committee and honorary members pay no fee.
At the club’s gatherings, entry is included in every membership and food and drink are at members’ rates; a few special evenings are ticketed, again at a members’ rate. The detailed rules are set in the club’s membership regulations.
Sign in with the email address the club has on file. We email you a code: no password to remember. Inside: your membership, your renewal date and the members' publications.
