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Welcome to the Huguenot Memorial
Museum.
We are situated in one of the truly most beautiful valleys in the world,
Franschhoek, Western Cape, South Africa, which has a fascinating history.
This attractive museum stands along side the Huguenot Memorial Monument,
parts of the building originate from Saasveld House, Kloof Street in Cape
Town which was owned by Baron William Ferdinand van Reede van Oudtshoorn;
which in its day was one of the most splendid homes in Cape Town, but when
it was demolished in 1954, the Huguenot Society managed to salvage many
items from the house, the windows and tiles are used in the Museum building
to this day.
Inside this building and in an Annexe across the road is the Huguenot
Museum. The theme of the Huguenot Museum in Franschhoek is the history of
the Huguenots before and after their arrival at the Cape of Good Hope . The
museum contains a large variety of 17th and 18th century Cape Dutch and
European furniture, bibles, copper and silver ware, kitchen utensils,
documents, farming equipment, relics and artefacts which illustrate the
life of the Huguenots in the area.
History of Franschhoek:
Lying in a relatively remote area, bordered on three sides by mountains, the
Franschhoek valley was originally known as Oliphantshoek. Elephants found
its isolation ideal for raising their calves, and were often encountered by
the early settlers.
In 1692 Heinrich Müller, a European colonist from Basel, was allotted the
first farm in the area and named it Keerweder (meaning turn back).
The Huguenots who settled at the Cape from April 1688 onwards were allotted
farms in Drakenstein, on the Cape Town side of the Berg River. They became
dissatisfied with the quality of the soil however, and applied to Governor
Simon van der Stel for permission to obtain better farms. He agreed to this
and on 18th October, 1694 nine farms were allocated to them in the
Oliphantshoek area.
In 1713 this area was first referred to as de france hoek (the French
corner) because it was inhabited mainly by French-speakers. On a map (drawn
by L S de la Rochette in 1795) the name is given as FRANS HOECK or la Petite
Rochelle. In 1805 the Commissioner-General of the Batavian Republic at the
Cape, J A U de Mist, named the new field-cornetcy FRANSCHHOEK. The name also
applied to the congregation established in 1845 as well as to the
Municipality which came into being in 1881.
Visiting Hours:
Mon-Sat: 09:00 - 17:00
Sun: 14:00 - 17:00
Closed on Good Friday and Christmas Day
Enjoy the beautiful garden and
bring a picnic!
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