AFRICAN LANDMARK

Voortrekker Monument

 The Voortrekker Monument, located in Pretoria, honors Boer pioneers who left in 1835 to 1838 in the Cape Colony to bring their culture and civilization within the South African land. This great migration was called "Great Trek." It is responsible for creating the Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State.

Symbol of Afrikaner nationalism, the monument stands since 1949 on a hill at the southern entrance to the South African capital. It is, at the turn of the century, the most visited place in the province of Gauteng and one of the 10 major cultural and historical sites in the country.

It has been part of the South African national heritage (national heritage site) since March 16, 2012 .

The idea to build a monument in honor of the Voortrekkers returns to the President of the South African Republic of Transvaal, Paul Kruger at the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Blood River (December 16, 1888).

The idea remained in gestation until 1931 when the "Commission of Monuments of the people of the Center" (Sentrale Volksmonumentekomitee - SVK) made ​it its main project.

The construction began on July 13, 1937 on Monument Hill. On December 16, 1938, the stones supporting the four corners of the monument were filled by three descendants of voortrekkers leaders: Mrs. JC Muller (granddaughter of Andries Pretorius), Mrs. KF Ackerman (great grand-daughter of Hendrik Potgieter) and Mrs. JC Preller (great-granddaughter of Piet Retief) in the presence of 250,000 people celebrating that day in Pretoria the centenary of the Great Trek.

 

The monument itself was inaugurated in front of over 150,000 people on the 16th of December 1949 in the presence of the South African government as a whole.

A large amphitheater seats 20,000 was later built north-east of the monument.

Joey & Alexandre