Namibia in Basel
The BAB was founded by Carl Schlettwein (1925–2005), who lived in the former South West Africa (today Namibia) during the 1950s and 1960s. He started to systematically collect publications about this country and established the BAB in Basel in 1971. Subsequently, institutional partnerships were developed and first publications issued.
With the establishment of the Carl Schlettwein Foundation in 1994, a sustainable base was laid for the institution and its collections, which continue to be systematically developed and expanded. Today, the BAB is firmly established a as part of Switzerland’s most important site for African Studies.
Our most important partners in Switzerland are the Centre for African Studies (CAS) at the University of Basel, the University Library Basel and the Swiss Society for African Studies (SSAS). In southern Africa we cooperate especially with Namibian institutions such as the University of Namibia (UNAM) and its library, the National Archives of Namibia (NAN), the National Library of Namibia (NLN) and many other organisations.