The Württemberg Cape Regiment () was a German

military unit Military organization ( AE) or military organisation ( BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. Formal military organization tends to use hiera ...

which was stationed at the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

toward the end of the 18th century, in the service of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

, and which played a considerable part in the cultural life of the Cape at that time. In 1786 Duke Charles Eugene of Württemberg concluded an agreement with the DEIC to furnish a

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

of 2000 men to the DEIC for the sum of 300 000

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...

. Any

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word ...

falling away would be replaced by new recruits on payment of an annual subsidy of 65 000 guilders. Kaserne Kapstadt

As a result, eleven military units under the command of fifty

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

were dispatched in 1787 to the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

via

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

. When they reached their destination seven months later 143 of the recruits had died as a result of privations. This exodus caused one of the first German poems on South Africa to be written: the ''Kaplied'' by

Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (24 March 1739 – 10 October 1791) was a German poet, organist, composer, and journalist. He was repeatedly punished for his social-critical writing and spent ten years in severe conditions in jail. Life Born ...

In 1791 most of these soldiers were sent on to India, where almost all of them died. A small group of thirteen

non-commissioned officers A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

and

stayed on at the Cape and found a refuge there. Members of the regiment played a prominent part in the social life of the Cape during their stay. Certain expressions, like ''swaapstreek'' (a stupid or foolish prank), were perhaps permanently absorbed by the everyday language at this time. Among the officers were well-educated men, who had attended the military training school near

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

with the German poet

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

and had been on friendly terms with him - men such as the doctor, Friedrich Ludwig Liesching, and the poet's brother-in-law, Karl van Wolzogen. Some of them, including Liesching, collected

botanical Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

specimens. A reading circle was formed and literary works obtained from Germany. These men also formed an amateur theatrical company, which staged German plays. Several married Cape Town women. Their

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

, Johann Friedrich Spönlin, effected an improvement in the school system of the Cape. Dr Friedrich Ludwig Liesching became the owner of the largest

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

and later was chief of medical services and the hospital in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Captain Johannes Zorn held the position of first

landdrost ''Landdrost'' ({{IPA, nl, ˈlɑndrɔst, lang, Nl-landdrost.ogg) was the title of various officials with local jurisdiction in the Netherlands and a number of former territories in the Dutch Empire. The term is a Dutch compound, with ''land'' mean ...

at the Cape, and built the imposing mansion Leeuwenhof, now the official residence of the

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

of the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

. His garden, with its exotic plants and birds, was one of the sights of the town. Johannes Müller, a common soldier of the regiment, grew rich as a

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

owner, married a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

woman, and in 1817 returned to his

fatherland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic nation ...

. Here he bought an estate, was ennobled, and lived on in folk-tales as 'der schwarze Baron' (the Black Baron).

References

Further reading