Stutterheim is a town with a population of 46,730 in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, situated in the Border region of the Eastern Cape province. It is named after Richard Von Stutterheim.

History

The area's earliest human population were

Bushmen The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are members of various Khoe, Tuu, or Kxʼa-speaking indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures that are the first cultures of Southern Africa, and whose territories span Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia ...

. Khoikhoi groups roamed the area with their cattle before Xhosa groups moved in during the mid-17th century CE. Missionaries arrived in the area in the 1830s from the Berlin Missionary Society, followed by German settlers from the 1850s, and further waves of English colonists later on. The town was originally named for Baron Richard Carl Gustav Ludwig Wilhelm Julius von Stutterheim, who became a major-general in the British Army as the head of the

British German Legion The British German Legion (or Anglo-German Legion) was a group of German soldiers recruited to fight for Britain in the Crimean War. It is not to be confused with the King's German Legion, which was active during the Napoleonic Wars. Great Britai ...

and spent eight months in South Africa before returning to Germany. It was later renamed Dohne after the first missionary in the area, Jacob Ludwig Döhne, but in 1857 it was reverted to its previous name, with the name Döhne referring only to a small station nearby. The

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...

received a degree of independence in 1872 when

Responsible Government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bra ...

was declared and, in 1877, the government of Prime Minister

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molteno ...

began construction of the railway line connecting Stutterheim to

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

on the coast. This was officially opened in August 1878, and led to significant growth and economic development in and around the town. On 20 May 1879 Stutterheim was proclaimed a municipality. Today Stutterheim is part of a much larger municipality named Amahlathi Local Municipality.http://www.escaperoute.co.za/history-and-heritage/early-history-of-stutterheim

Economy and tourism

Due to its fair annual rainfall, Stutterheim is a flourishing forestry centre which includes large pine, gum and wattle plantations that are established on the slopes of the Kologha Mountains. This scenic town is situated about 70 km from

on the

N6 highway National Route 6 (N6) is a major primary national route that forms part of the Philippine highway network in the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. History Route description Bacolod to Kabankalan The route starts ...

to the north. It is the home of many picturesque hiking trails, as well as mountain streams. Nearby Gubu Dam is well-stocked with trout. A number of cattle and sheep stud farms are also to be found in Stutterheim. Wool, beef, dairy and poultry are other central products which the area yields.

References

External links

Municipality Website
Populated places in the Amahlathi Local Municipality German settlements in South Africa {{EasternCape-geo-stub