Reddersburg is a small sheep and cattle farming town in the Free State province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on the N6 National Route 60 kilometres south of

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

History

The town was established around the Reformed Church Reddersburg, which was established on the farm Thorbeck on 7 May 1859. The church counsel bought the farm Vlakfontein to establish the town. The name is

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 ...

and means "Saviour's Town", from "God is our Saviour". The town was managed by the church until 1894 when it was handed over to the municipality on agreement that a hereditary tenure of 33 pounds sterling must be paid by the municipality to the church on an annual basis. During 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 Sout ...

, Reddersburg was the site of one of the last victories for the Boer forces over the British. Troops led by General Christiaan de Wet attacked a convoy of 600 of the

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County ...

on April 4, 1900, and obtained their surrender the next day.Thomas Pankenham, ''The Boer War'' (Random House, 1979) p417 The Sarie Marais Hotel is one of the landmarks in the town. File:Old CNO school, Reddersburg.JPG, Old CNO school File:21 Boshof street, Reddersburg.JPG, 21 Boshof street

References

Populated places in the Kopanong Local Municipality Populated places founded by Afrikaners Populated places established in 1861 1861 establishments in the Orange Free State {{FreeState-geo-stub