Drosdy Museum
Craftsman Houses
Handwerkerhäuser
Swellendam is the 8th oldest town in the Republic of South Africa, a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites most of them buildings of Cape Dutch architecture. Swellendam is situated on the N2, approximately 220 km from both Cape Town and George.
Early travellers and explorers who visited the Cape in the 16th century traded with the Khoikhoi people who lived on these shores and in the interior. When the Dutch East India Company established a replenishment station at the Cape in 1652, trade continued inland as far as Swellendam.
In 1743 Swellendam was declared a magisterial district, the third oldest in South Africa, and was named after Governor Hendrik Swellengrebel, the first South African born Governor, and his wife, Helena Ten Damme. This outlying settlement soon became a gateway to the interior, and was visited by many famous explorers and travellers including François Le Vaillant (1781), Lady Anne Barnard (1798), William John Burchell (1815) and Thomas William Bowler (1860). In time, a village was established beyond the Drostdy, where artisans including numerous wainwrights and traders settled. Swellendam was the last outpost of Dutch civilisation on the eastern frontier and thus the services of the residents of the town were of utmost importance.
By 1795 maladministration and inadequacies of the Dutch East India Company caused the long-suffering burghers of Swellendam to revolt, and on 17 June 1795 they declared themselves a Republic. Hermanus Steyn was appointed as President of the Republic of Swellendam. The burghers of Swellendam started to call themselves "national burghers" – after the style of the French Revolution. But the Republic was short-lived due to the occupation of the Cape by the Kingdom of Great Britain. With the arrival of British settlers in the early 19th century the Overberg boomed, and Swellendam was soon the heart of the mercantile empire of Barry and Nephews, created by Joseph Barry, which dominated trade in the area up until 1870. The Breede River is the only navigable river in South Africa and ships sailed 35 km up river to Malgas to unload and load merchandise.
By the middle of the 19th century, the eastern districts had been colonised by the British settlers and Swellendam was a thriving metropolis. The town served as a useful refreshment station on the long, slow journey up the coast. Today Swellendam is a flourishing agricultural area, and has many attractive and historic buildings which serve as a reminder of its past. The first known sketch of Swellendam was of the Drostdy, by Johannes Schumacher in 1776, when he accompanied the son of Governor Swellengrebel to the town. Today the Drostdy forms part of a museum complex that consist of several heritage sites, namely the Drostdy, the old Goal and Mayville.
In June 2011, the Swellendam Municipality area, which includes Barrydale, Suurbraak, Malgas, Infanta and Stormsvlei, re-declared itself a Republic. This republic is dedicated to the principles of the New South Africa, and celebrates rural life, racial harmony, respect for nature and wildlife, and aims to promote sustainability and an "unplugged" way of life for all to enjoy.
(Wikipedia)
The Drostdy Museum was built by the Dutch East India Company in 1747 to serve as residence and official headquarters for the Landdrost. Soon after a gaol, a house for the secretary, a mill and various outbuildings were erected.
The first Landdrost to be appointed to this district was Johannes Theophilus Rhenius and he was assisted by a board of burger heemraden and subordinates like secretary and a gaoler as well as many slaves. From 1827 the Drostdy was occupied by the civil commissioner who, with the resident magistrate, replaced the board of Landdrost and heemraden when they were abolished by the British colonial government.
In 1846 the government sold the Drostdy and the property was subdivided. In 1855 the former Drostdy was bought by the Steyn family and it remained in the hands of this family until 1939 when it was bought by the government of the Union of South Africa for the purpose of establishing a museum.
(drostdymuseum.co.za)
Swellendam ist eine Stadt im Distrikt Overberg, Provinz Westkap in Südafrika.
Swellendam liegt rund 230 Kilometer östlich von Kapstadt sowie etwa 220 Kilometer westlich von George an der Nationalstraße N2 und der Bahnstrecke Worcester–Voorbaai. Die Stadt breitet sich in etwa 120 Meter Höhe an den leicht gewellten südlichen Hängen der Langeberg Mountains aus. Die Küste des Indischen Ozeans ist etwa 50 Kilometer entfernt. 2011 hatte die Stadt 17.537 Einwohner.
Westlich der Stadt fließt der Breede River vorbei, der südöstlich von Swellendam bei Witsand in den Indischen Ozean mündet. In der Nähe liegen die Städte Ashton, Barrydale, Montagu und Robertson.
Swellendam wurde im Jahre 1743 als Bezirk und 1746 als Stadt und Außenposten der Niederländischen Ostindien-Gesellschaft gegründet und ist damit nach Kapstadt und Stellenbosch die drittälteste Stadt Südafrikas – nach anderen Angaben die fünftälteste Stadt. Ihre Namensgeber waren der Gouverneur Hendrik Swellengrebel und seine Frau Helena, geborene ten Damme.
Im Jahre 1795 waren die Einwohner so erbost über die Niederländische Ostindien-Gesellschaft, dass sie den Landdrost, den von der Kapregierung eingesetzten Distriktbeamten, absetzten und die Republik Swellendam unter ihrem Anführer Hermanus Steyn ausriefen. Diese Burenrepublik bestand aber nur drei Monate (von Februar bis Juni 1795), bis die Briten das Gebiet im Namen des niederländischen Erbstatthalters Wilhelm V. besetzten.
1865 wurde die Stadt von einem Brand heimgesucht. Trotzdem sind zahlreiche ältere Gebäude erhalten.
Aus der Gründungszeit Swellendams, dem Jahr 1747, stammt das im Jahre 1844 erweiterte und veränderte Drostdy-Gebäude im kapholländischen Stil. Hier residierte der Landdrost. Das Gebäude bildet heute den Kern eines kleinen Museumskomplexes, zu dem auch das alte Gefängnis gehört.
Im Zentrum befindet sich eine Kirche, die zur Niederländisch-reformierten Kirche Südafrikas gehört. Der hölzerne Turmspitze war 2008 so verrottet, dass sie ausgewechselt werden musste. Bei dem Versuch, sie mit Hilfe von Seilen und einem Hubschrauber zu entfernen, stürzte sie auf das Kirchendach.
Sieben Kilometer südlich der Stadt befindet sich der Eingang zum Bontebok-Nationalpark, der außer etwa 200 Buntböcke auch Antilopen und Springböcke sowie rund 20 Bergzebras beherbergt. Der Nationalpark kann im eigenen Pkw erkundet werden. Direkt oberhalb der Stadt liegt das Marloth-Naturschutzgebiet.
(Wikipedia)