Kruger House is the historical

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

residence of the

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...

leader and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South African Republic, South Africa, and President of the So ...

. It was built in 1884 by architect Tom Claridge and builder Charles Clark. Milk was used, instead of water, for mixing the

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

from which the house was constructed, as the cement available was of poor quality. The house was also one of the first in Pretoria to be lit by electricity. The house contains either the original furnishings or items from the same historical period, some of the many gifts that were presented to Kruger as well as other memorabilia. Another interesting feature of the house is two stone lions on the

verandah A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...

that were presented to President Kruger as a birthday gift on 10 October 1896 by the mining magnate Barney Barnato. The Kruger House is now a house

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

that tries to recreate the ambience of the period that Kruger lived in.

History

After President Kruger became a member of the Volksraad (Parliament) in 1863, he bought several plots of land on Church Street. He originally had a house to the east of today's Kruger House Museum, and later had one to the west of it. In July 1884, the Kruger family moved into the house described in this article, which was built by the prominent businessman Alois Hugo Nellmapius. On August 14 of that year, the President hosted 60 guests, among them members of the Volksraad, lawyers, Cabinet members, and pastors at a dinner party in his "new official residence." The Kruger House displays a mix of styles. The cornice-molded

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s, the molding on the front door, and the plastered moldings show Late

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

touches, while the front and back porches show Asian influence. The house is an elongated, simple, and sturdy building. Two large

drawing room A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...

s highlight the front of the house, with four bedrooms behind. The long, broad front porch became famous as a place the President would often sit and would sometimes receive visitors. The President and Mrs. Kruger lived for 15 years and 10 months, more or less, from July 1884 to May 1900, in the Kruger House. Their children - except for Tjaart, the youngest - were already married. On May 29, 1900, shortly before the British took Pretoria, the President left his home for the last time. His wife remained until her death in 1901. Family, friends, and sympathizers came to greet him. A boy named James F. Smith also brought 29,000 signed condolences from American boys. Shortly before the President's death in 1904, Frederik Christoffel Eloff, son-in-law of the President, purchased the Kruger House from the estate and registered it in the name of his son, Dirk Postma Eloff. In his absence, the house was rented out without his knowledge as a bed-and-breakfast under the name "The Presidency." President Kruger was buried in Pretoria on December 16, 1904. The funeral service was held on the grounds, between the Kruger House and the Pretoria Reformed Church (GKSA) on the opposite side of the street. Starting in April 1920, the Kruger House was leased to the Bond of Afrikaanse Moeders, a midwives' training school, as a maternity ward. Many Afrikaners can therefore boast of having born in the Kruger House between 1920 and 1932. Meanwhile, opinion turned toward making the Kruger House a museum. When several of Kruger's belongings were secured from the Dordrechts Museum in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and brought back to Pretoria, this only heightened the impetus; some of these items were originally exhibited in the Old National Cultural History Museum on Boom Street. The house was officially opened as a museum on October 10, 1934, by Mr. Albert Kuit. People connected with the President, including Mrs. LJ Jacobz, Col. Hermanus Christiaan Bredell, Dr. A. Heymans, and Miss J. van Broekhuizen, donated valuable photographs and other personal mementoes. On April 6, 1936, the house was declared a National Heritage Site. A few outbuildings have been built since then to hold the large number of Kruger memorabilia, as well as an apartment and an office. In 1952, the

South African Railways and Harbours Administration The South African Railways and Harbours Administration (SAR&H) was established on 31 May 1910 with formation of the Union of South Africa by the amalgamation of the four colonial railways and all harbours in South Africa - about 11,000 kilometres of ...

donated the President's personal train coach, which the Kruger House later exhibited in the garden under a canopy. The Kruger House Museum has been entrusted to the National Cultural History and Open Air Museum ( or NASKO). October 10, 1984, the centennial of the house, was also the 50th anniversary of the house's museum status.

References

External links

home page of the Kruger House Museum
{{Authority control Afrikaner culture in Pretoria Houses completed in 1884 Museums in Pretoria Houses in South Africa Historic house museums in South Africa Biographical museums in South Africa History of Pretoria Paul Kruger 19th-century architecture in South Africa