The Ou Raadsaal (English: ''Old Council Hall'') is a
historic building
This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many i ...
in
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
, located on the south side of
Church Square. The Ou Raadsaal housed the
Volksraad, the parliament of the
South African Republic
The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...
, from 1891 to 1902.
The Ou Raadsaal was commissioned in the late 19th century by the South African Republic as the new
seat of government in Pretoria, and was designed by
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
architect
Sytze Wierda in a
Renaissance Revival
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
style. The contract for construction was granted to John Johnstone Kirkness, a builder from the
Orkney Islands with a prolific building career in the region, at a sum of £82,500. Construction began in February 1889 with the
cornerstone
The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.
Over tim ...
laid by President
Paul Kruger
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South African Republic, South Africa, and President of the So ...
on 6 May that year, and the work was completed in December 1891. The
Transvaal Museum
The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly the Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa. It is located on Paul Kruger Street, between Visagie and Minnaar Streets, opposite the Pretoria City Hal ...
was established in 1892 in the upper floor of Ou Raadsaal, but was soon moved to a separate location when the room was deemed too small for the collection.
In 1902, the South African Republic was annexed by the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
after its defeat in the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...
, abolishing the Volksraad, and the Ou Raadsaal became vacant.
In 1999, the Ou Raadsaal was declared a
Provincial Heritage Site and is protected in terms of Section 34 of the National Heritage Resources Act (Act 25 of 1999), as it is over 60 years old. The building is also known in English as the Old Council Chamber or Old Government Building, and in
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
as the Republikeinse Raadsaal.
References
External links
Buildings and structures in Pretoria
Legislative buildings
Seats of national legislatures
South African Republic
History of Pretoria
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