Free State

Across the road from the Bloemfontein City Hall in Hertzog Square stands a fine monument dedicated to General JBM Hertzog. General Hertzog was a military officer in the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902) and later became Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa.Hertzog Square consists of fountains, a reflection pool and the statue created by sculptor Danie de Jager and unveiled in 1968.  There another sculpture on the square of which I haven't been able to find any information.  The male figure…

I hope you're not tired of Bloemfontein yet, but there are still a couple of things to show you.  Bloemfontein's City Hall is a stately sandstone building designed by Sir Gordon Leithe.  Even though its looks like a very old building from the outside, it was only built in 1935 and is decorated with Italian marble and  Burmese wood. I found this very interesting skull design appearing at the bottom of both the towers and thought it quite an interesting feature.My visit to…

The National Afrikaans Literature Museum in Bloemfontein is only about a block from the Fourth Raadsaal I featured yesterday.  This building originally accommodated the government structures of the Republic of the Orange Free State in the 1800s and is reminiscent of the old Cape-Dutch architecture in the area. The National Afrikaans Literature Museum, with the largest collection of Afrikaans literature and manuscripts in the world, as well as artifacts belonging to well-known Afrikaans writers, is housed in this building.Standing in…

Bloemfontein in the Free State has a collection of beautiful historic buildings and statues all situated in the centre of town.  The one I liked the most on my recent visit was the Fourth Raadsaal. The foundation stone was laid by then Orange Free State President F. W. Reitz in 1890 and the building was completed in 1893. It is a Renaissance-style building in red brick with a prominent dome and a portico of Ionic columns. The last session of the Parliament…