Voortrekker Fort/Ohrigstad Fort was constructed before 1847 to act as a refuge for local

Voortrekker The Great Trek ( af, Die Groot Trek; nl, De Grote Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyon ...

families due to the constant attacks of local

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

tribes. It is situated in the

Ohrigstad Ohrigstad (Afrikaans for ''Ohrig city''), formerly Andries Orieg Stad, is a small town to the north of Lydenburg in the Limpopo province, South Africa. History A fort was established by a group of Voortrekkers under the leadership of Andries Hend ...

area of northern

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

province which was first settled by

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...

under the leadership of

Andries Hendrik Potgieter Andries Hendrik Potgieter, known as Hendrik Potgieter (19 December 1792 – 16 December 1852) was a Voortrekker leader and the last known Champion of the Potgieter family. He served as the first head of state of Potchefstroom from 1840 and 1845 ...

History

The Voortrekker Fort was built circa. 1847 by early pioneering Voortrekkers in modern day

Province, South Africa. The main purpose of the fortifications were to protect themselves and their families against possible attacks by the local tribes in the general

vicinity. The fort is in the same grounds as the Andries Hendrik Potgieter Gedenksaal. The fort was built using a combination of dry stone walling and mud brick layering with loopholes supported by slate stone lintels, making rifle-fire easier. The site is mostly in ruins today, however it has received Provincial

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

status, and a new roof has been placed over the site in order to protect the mud construction.

References

{{Castles and fortifications in South Africa Castles in South Africa Forts in South Africa Voortrekker Buildings and structures in Mpumalanga

History

See also

References