OL Haus: a new name for a 95-year address

Financial services group OL has renamed its Windhoek headquarters OL Haus, marking a symbolic step in a broader brand reinvention that the company says signals its ambition to deliver world-class service with an authentically Namibian identity.

Executive Chairman Sven Thieme cut the ribbon at a ceremony on 21 May on Independence Avenue, where the building has stood at the centre of Windhoek's Central Business District since Carl List purchased the corner site in 1929. The original structure was erected in 1965, and a refurbishment completed in 2010 transformed it into the A-grade commercial and retail landmark it is today.

The building has carried several names over the decades — Carl List Haus, Alexander Forbes House and Carl List Mall — before the renaming to OL Haus.

Thieme said the return to the German "Haus" and the addition of the mother brand was deliberate.

"The return to the German 'Haus' and the addition of the mother brand reconnects us to our heritage and craftsmanship and signals our modernisation while still embracing where we come from," he said.

The renaming forms part of OL's One OL, One Persona, One Future brand reinvention, unveiled the previous evening, which encompasses a unified logo and repositioned group identity across its businesses.