Heinitzburg, Hilltop castle in Windhoek, Namibia.

Heinitzburg is a fieldstone manor house built in 1914 on a hill above Windhoek, Namibia. Its compact, palace-like body has a square three-storey keep with battlements and an arched frieze, two corner towers framing the courtyard, leaded windows and a twisted staircase. The keep is whitewashed from the second floor up, and its terrace looks out over the city below.

The castle was designed in 1914 by German architect Wilhelm Sander and soon after acquired by Hans Bogislav Graf von Schwerin, who gave it its current name. It was built during the final years of German colonial rule over the territory that is now Namibia, before control passed to South Africa after World War One.

Heinitzburg is one of three castles in Windhoek designed by the same German architect within a few years of each other. Walking through the city, you can spot all three buildings on their respective hills, which gives a sense of how German colonial taste shaped the town's skyline.

The castle now operates as a hotel with a restaurant, open to both overnight guests and visitors coming just for a meal. The terrace restaurant is a good spot to take in the view over Windhoek without needing to book a room.

The name Heinitzburg is a later shortening: Hans Bogislav Graf von Schwerin called the house Heynitzburg after his wife Margarete's birth name, von Heynitz, when he bought it from Wilhelm Sander in 1916. Sander had built it in 1914 for himself and sold it two years later. The castle-like look includes a twisted staircase and lead windows.