A small museum has been housed in the old Mission House in Hermannsburg, South Africa, for the past few years. Originally only the rear half of the house was utilized by the museum, but for the last 18 months the entire building has been made available.

The old Mission House :

The old Mission House was erected in 1854 by missionaries and colonists from Germany shortly after their arrival on the farm Perseverance. It was constructed of air-dried bricks. The house originally contained 16 bedrooms and 8 living rooms: each missionary and each colonist was to have his own bedroom, while always two men were to share a living room. Two larger rooms in the middle of the house were used as dining- and conference room, and as the chapel, respectively.

The Kitchen :

The oldest building in Hermannsburg is the old kitchen, a small building hidden behind the old Mission House. Originally it accommodated all of the 16 inhabitants of Hermannsburg but when they moved into the big house, it was turned into the kitchen. Over the years the building was used as a storage shed and as a smoking-chamber and became quite delapidated. It has now been restored and is one of the 15 oldest buildings in Natal, still of its original construction.

The Museum :

Although artefacts and tools had been collected for more than 30 years, the idea of creating a public museum was only realised in 1981 for the 125 th anniversary of the Hermannsburg School. Since 1990 the museum has been affiliated to the Natal Museum Services and was officially opened on 19 September 1992.

Hours and Contacts : The museum is open from Mondays to Fridays 9 am to 12 am or after hours by arrangement with the curator.
Telephone: +27-33445-405 (Museum) or +27-33445-714 (School Administration Offices)