Leutnant Thilo v Trotha. Born 23-11-1877 in Wahlstadt. Died 14-06-1905 at Fish River Canyon.
Killed while negotiating peace with the Bondelswarts-Nama. He was shot from behind because it was suspected that he was using the talks to distract the Bondelswarts-Nama's attention from a raid being carried out by a German Cavalry in the valley below the Four Finger Rock in order to recover stolen livestock.
The grave of the German soldier
Hikers making their way down the Fish River Canyon will come across the grave of Lieutenant Thilo von Trotha, who died in 1905 during a particularly warlike era in Namibia’s (then German South West Africa) history. An uprising by the local Herero and Nama people, rebelling against colonial German forces, took place in the early 1900s. Sadly this period can lay claim to the first genocide of 20th century, initiated somewhat ironically by the unfortunate Lieutenant von Trotha’s uncle, General Lothar von Trotha, in 1904. In this remote corner of the country, the story goes that German troops in pursuit of cattle thieves surprised Lieutenant von Trotha and local Nama leaders as they negotiated for peace. Seeing cavalry and thinking the peace-talks to be a trap, the Nama shot Lieutenant von Trotha and he was buried at the spot. His grave stands today as a reminder that peace has not always reigned in this austere and desolate landscape.