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

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, situated in the Border region of the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

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 the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the Indigenous peoples of Africa, oldest surviving cultures of the region. They are thought to have diverged fro ...

Khoikhoi Khoikhoi (Help:IPA/English, /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally Nomad, nomadic pastoralist Indigenous peoples, indigenous population of South Africa. They ...

groups roamed the area with their cattle before

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

groups moved in during the mid-17th century CE. Missionaries arrived in the area in the 1830s from the

Berlin Missionary Society The Berlin Missionary Society (BMS) (German: ''Berliner Missionsgesellschaft'' (BMG)) was a Berlin-based German Protestant (Lutheran) Christianity, Christian missionary society, active from 1824 to 1972 in South Africa, East Africa and China. In 197 ...

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

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 br ...

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

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (; 5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a politician and businessman who served as the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1872 to 1878. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...

began construction of the railway line connecting Stutterheim to

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

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 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