Everything about The Voortrekker Monument totally explained
The
Voortrekker Monument is a
monument situated in the city of
Pretoria,
South Africa. The massive
granite structure, built to honour the
Voortrekkers (Pioneers)
(External Link
) who left the
Cape Colony in the thousands between 1835 and
1854, was designed by the architect
Gerard Moerdijk who had the ideal to design a "monument that would stand a thousands of years to describe the history and the meaning of the Great Trek to its descendants"
(External Link). It can be seen from almost any location in the city, as it's seated on top of a hill.
History
The idea to build a monument in honour of the
Voortrekkers was first mooted on
16 December 1888, when
President Paul Kruger of the
South African Republic attended the
Day of the Covenant celebrations at
Blood River in
Natal. However, the movement to actually build such a monument only started in
1931 when the
Sentrale Volksmonumentekomitee (SVK) (Central People's Monuments Committee) was formed to bring this idea to fruition.
Construction started on
13 July 1937 with a sod turning ceremony performed by chairman of the SVK, Advocate E.G.Jansen, on what later became known as Monument Hill. On 16 December 1938 the cornerstone was laid by three descendants of some of the Voortrekker leaders: Mrs. J.C. Muller (granddaughter of
Andries Pretorius), Mrs. K.F. Ackerman (great-granddaughter of
Hendrik Potgieter) and Mrs. J.C. Preller (great-granddaughter of
Piet Retief).
The Monument was inaugurated on
16 December 1949. The total construction cost of the Monument was about
£ 360,000, most of which was contributed by the South African government.
A large
amphitheatre, which seats approximately 20,000 people, was erected to the north-east of the Monument in 1949.
Main features
Physically, the Voortrekker Monument is 40 metres high, with a base of 40 metres by 40 metres. The building has strong architectural resemblance to German monuments, in particular the
Völkerschlachtdenkmal in Leipzig. The two main points of interest inside the building are the Historical Frieze and the Cenotaph.
Historical Frieze
The main entrance of the building leads into the domed Hall of Heroes. This massive space, flanked by four huge arched windows made from yellow Belgian glass, contains the unique
marble Historical
Frieze which is an intrinsic part of the design of the monument. The frieze consists of 27 bas-relief panels depicting the history of the
Great Trek as well as the every day life, work methods, religious beliefs and way of life of the Voortrekkers. In the middle of the Hall of Heroes is a large circular opening through which the Cenotaph Hall can be viewed.
Cenotaph
The
Cenotaph, situated in the centre of the Cenotaph Hall, is the central focus of the monument. In addition to being viewable from the Hall of Heroes it can also be seen from the dome at the top of the building, from where the whole interior of the monument can be viewed. Through an opening in this dome the sun shines at twelve o'clock on
16 December each year onto the middle of the Cenotaph and the words 'Ons vir Jou, Suid-Afrika' (
Afrikaans for 'We for Thee, South Africa'). The ray of sunshine is said to symbolise God's blessing on the lives and endeavours of the Voortrekkers. December 16, 1838 was the date of the
Battle of Blood River, commemorated in Apartheid-era South Africa as the
Day of the Vow.
The Cenotaph Hall is decorated with the flags of the different
Voortrekker Republics and contains wall tapestries depicting the Voortrekkers as well as several display cases with artefacts from the Great Trek. Against the northern wall of the hall is a nave with a
lantern in which a flame has been kept burning ever since 1938. It was in that year that the
Symbolic Ox Wagon Trek, which started in
Cape Town and ended at Monument Hill where the Monument's foundation stone was laid, took place.
Other
Visitors to the monument enter through a black
wrought iron gate with an
assegai (spear) motif.
After passing through the gate one finds oneself inside a big
laager consisting of 64
ox-wagons made out of decorative granite. The same number of wagons were used at the
Battle of Blood River to form the laager.
At the foot of the Monument stands
Anton van Wouw's bronze sculpture of a Voortrekker woman and her two children, paying homage to the strength and courage of the Voortrekker women. On both sides of this sculpture black
wildebeest are chiselled into the walls of the Monument. The wildebeest symbolically depicts the dangers of Africa and their symbolic flight implies that the woman, carrier of Western civilisation, is triumphant.
On each outside corner of the Monument there's a statue, respectively representing
Piet Retief,
Andries Pretorius,
Hendrik Potgieter and an "unknown" leader (representative of all the other Voortrekker leaders). Each statue weighs approximately 6
tons.
At the eastern corner of the monument, on the same level as its entrance, is the foundation stone.
Monument complex
In the years following its construction, the monument complex was expanded several times and now includes:
Further Information
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