Erich Zelle, meteorologist and museum curator, was the son of Friedrich Reinhard Ernst Julius Zelle and his wife Marie Luise Walda Elsner. He studied geophysics in Germany, but discontinued his studies and came to German South West Africa (now Namibia) in 1906. After various odd jobs he was appointed as government meteorologist in Windhoek in 1920, a position he held until his retirement in 1944. In January 1927 W.H. Hoover*, in charge of the solar radiation station on Mount Brukkaros, offered to make regular meteorological observations and supply them to the weather bureau in Windhoek. Zelle decided that a first order meteorological station should be erected there and in July that year supplied the necessary instruments. Regular observations were received from August 1927 to November 1931, when the solar station was closed.

Zelle published Die Grundlagen des Klimas in Windhoek (The basis of climate in Windhoek) in 1931. Later in his career he compiled a Karte der Jahresniederschläge in Isohyeten (Map of annual rainfall in isohyets) on a scale of 1:2 000 000, published as an insert in the Journal of the South West African Scientific Society, 1956-1957, Vol. 12.

Zelle was an active member of the South West Africa Scientific Society, serving as librarian, secretary, and from 1939 to 1947 as president. In 1937 he succeeded P. Barth* as honorary curator of the Society's museum, a position which occupied him almost full time after his retirement in 1944. In 1950 he became a full time curator, a position he held until April 1957, when the museum was taken over by the administration and became the State Museum. In August 1955 Dr G.J. Fock was appointed at the museum as assistant. During Zelle's time as curator many donations were received. The administration of the territory presented a large ethnological collection bought from Mr A.C. Logie. Another ethnological collection was purchased by the Historical Monuments Commission. Zelle also made an archaeological collection which grew to some 10 000 implements. However as he had to open the museum on six days per week he had no time for serious research. By 1924 he was a member of the Astronomical Society of South Africa.

List of sources:

Erich Zelle (1884-1969). Ancestry. Retrieved on 4 August 2021 from https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/erich-zelle-24-16q298v

Hillebrecht, W. Unpublished preliminary notes for a dictionary of Namibian biography. National Archives of Namibia, Windhoek, June 2004.

Journal of the Astronomical Society of South Africa, 1824, Vol. 1(1), pp. 98-100, List of members and associates.

Logan, R.F. Bibliography of South West Africa, geography and related fields. Windhoek: SWA Scientific Society, 1969.

Plug, C. The weather station at the Mount Brukkaros Solar Observatory, South-West Africa, 1927-1931. Weather Bureau (South Africa) Newsletter, 1989, No. 480, pp. 1-3.

Zelle, E. A contribution to the history of the State Museum in Windhoek, South West Africa. Southern African Museums Association Bulletin, 1958, Vol. 7(2), pp. 29-36.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2022-01-17 10:05:08