Heidelberg | |
|---|---|
 Heidelberg Town Hall | |
  Heidelberg  Heidelberg  Heidelberg | |
| Coordinates:26°30′02″S28°21′30″E / 26.50056°S 28.35833°E /-26.50056; 28.35833 | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Gauteng |
| District | Sedibeng |
| Municipality | Lesedi |
| Established | 1886[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 40.26 km2 (15.54 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[2] | |
• Total | 35,563 |
| • Density | 883.3/km2 (2,288/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011) | |
| • Black African | 56.8% |
| • Coloured | 1.8% |
| • Indian/Asian | 3.2% |
| • White | 37.3% |
| • Other | 1.0% |
| First languages (2011) | |
| • Afrikaans | 37.6% |
| • Zulu | 25.0% |
| • Sotho | 18.4% |
| • English | 8.6% |
| • Other | 10.4% |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (SAST) |
| Postal code (street) | 1441 |
| PO box | 1438 |
| Area code | 016 |
Heidelberg is a town with 35,500 inhabitants in theGauteng province ofSouth Africa, some 50 kilometres south-east ofJohannesburg, close to theMpumalanga border. It sits at the eastern end of theSuikerbosrand Nature Reserve, next to theN3 highway connecting Johannesburg andDurban.
The area was once thekraal of theBakwena,[3] untilcolonization and theBasotho wars.
Modern Heidelberg was founded in 1862 as a trading station by aGerman, Heinrich Julius Ueckermann. A town was laid out around the store and named afterUeckermann's alma mater. In 1866, the District of Heidelberg was created from the eastern portion of thePotchefstroom district with its ownlanddrost (magistrate), having been laid out as a churchplace in 1865.[4]: 237
Heidelberg has played an important part in South African history, acting as a capital for theBoer republic during thewar withGreat Britain under the Triumvirate ofPaul Kruger,P.J. Joubert andM.W. Pretorius, from 1880 to 1883. In 1885, theWitwatersrand gold reef was discovered, and the office of the Mining Commissioner was established there.
Heidelberg developed as a typical rural Victorian town. Many buildings dating back to the period between 1890 and 1910 have been preserved, including the home ofA.G. Visser, a well-loved medical doctor and famousAfrikaans poet, which can still be seen situated close to the main road through town. Other historical landmarks in the town includes Visser's bust and theKlipkerk. TheBritish built aconcentration camp here during theSecond Boer War to houseBoer women and children; a monument to their memory, and to those of the black women and children who also died during the war, was erected in the main cemetery in the late 1990s by the currentANC-led municipality.
Thefar rightsecessionistpolitical organisation (and formerparamilitary group) theAfrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) was founded by the latewhite supremacist andwhite separatist leaderEugène Terre'Blanche in the Heidelberg suburb of Rensburg. Its headquarters are now in Terre'Blanche's hometown ofVentersdorp.
The "Jo'burg to Sea" mountain bike stage race starts in Heidelberg. The "Outdoor X" show is held just outside Heidelberg on the Malonjeni Guest Farm.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Municipalities and communities ofSedibeng District Municipality,Gauteng | ||
|---|---|---|
District seat:Vereeniging | ||
| Emfuleni | .svg) | |
| Midvaal | ||
| Lesedi | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
