Foundations are of stone, the walls of baked bricks outside and air-dried bricks inside. Tower in each of the four corners. Veranda on the front side. According to plans from 1912, the fort had 54 rooms. The steps to it, a chain made from 300 trek chains and the equestrian statue were added in 1914. Memorial plaque from 1964 that commemorates the members of the Schutztruppe that were killed in 1914. After Curt von Francis had established the permanent post of the Schutztruppe in Windhoek, he and his chief mason, Gustav Tuenschel, started erecting the fort on 18 October 1890 close to the hot springs. This first building of veld stones loosly piled on each other was finished in 1893. In 1901 it was extended to the present shape by Gottlieb Redecker. During the Herero uprising in 1904 it served as refuge for the civilians of the town. After the occupation by Union troops in 1915 the fort served as their headquarter. From 1926 on, it was used as a hostel for the Windhoek High School and from 1957 as the State Museum for the SA government.