 Gobabeb was formerly a Topnaar community called "!Nomabeb", which means "place of the figtree".In 1958 the Austrian entomologist Dr. Charles Koch did an expedition in the Namib Desert, focused on the large diversity of beetles found in the area.One year later the South African Transvaal Museum decided to found a research station in, what was at the time known as, South West Africa (today called Namibia).