Hahn founded the mission colony at Otjimbingwe in 1864 during a period when warfare was reshaping central Namibia. It was not simply a settlement of missionaries and converts: European artisans, traders, and their families also formed part of the colony. Its stated religious purpose was expressed through Volksbekehrung, the conversion of whole communities rather than isolated individuals.

Conversion among Herero proceeded slowly. By 1870 only sixty-nine people had been baptised, but the colony’s institutional significance extended beyond immediate religious numbers. The founding of the Augustinum in 1866, described as an RMS teacher-training college, created a basis for longer-term cultural transformation in the region.

Otjimbingwe also operated within the commercial networks that connected Namibia to the Cape and to northern regions. The mission colony hunted ivory and feathers through a network of hunters, many stationed in Ondonga, and imported arms and ammunition despite a prohibition from RMS headquarters. Its religious, educational, and commercial activities therefore overlapped with the political struggles of the 1860s.