Driving through the town of Burgersdorp in the Eastern Cape, visitors will pass a park called Burger Square with a collection of monuments in it. One of the monuments (actually two, but if you keep on reading you will understand) is a monument to the Dutch language which is mainly out of what the Afrikaans language developed. The statue, made from Carrara marble and built in Italy, was originally erected in 1893 in honour of equal rights of Dutch and English to be used in the Colonial Parliament.
The original statue was damaged and removed from its base in 1901 by British Troops during the Anglo Boar War. After the war the British Government was pressured by the inhabitants of Burgersdorp to pay for a replica to be made to replace the missing one. The new monument was unveiled in 1907. The original monument was found, minus the head, buried in King William’s Town in 1939. It was brought back and erected next to the new monument where it stands today.
Firefly the Travel Guy 
Fascinating – I love stories like this!! Love that the 2 statues are now standing side by side.
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That is quite something! Very European isn't it? I have been through Burgersdorp but never stopped to have a look at this. Must do it next time! Thanks for Sharing! 🙂
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Very nice that both statues are on display. A very interesting story.
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I thought Burgersdorp was only used for aerial navigation purposes. Very informative post on a town with plenty of history. More please.
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Very interesting!
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An interesting history of the monuments.
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That's an interesting tidbit of history. This is why I enjoy your blog so much 🙂
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