The Old Prison is one of the most striking pieces of German colonial architecture in Swakopmund, which is saying something in a town full of it. Built in 1909 in the German Imperial style, it presents a massive, turreted facade to the street that looks more like a Bavarian castle than a correctional facility. It is a national monument and is still in use as a correctional services facility, which means you cannot go inside — but the exterior, especially the main gate tower with its battlements and arrow slits, is worth seeking out.
The building stands on the eastern edge of the town centre, near the railway station. It sits easily in a walking circuit that takes in the Woermannhaus, the station building, and several other colonial-era monuments — together they make the point that the Germans who came here in the 1890s intended to stay and built accordingly.