Afrikaanse Taalmonument
The Afrikaans Language Monument ( Afrikaans Afrikaanse Taalmonument ) is a monument in South Africa dedicated to the Afrikaans language . It is on a hill above the Teachers' Training College in the town of Paarl , in the province of Western Cape (Western Cape) near Cape Town is located. Built in 1975, it commemorates the century of Afrikaans, which was officially declared its own language in 1925 and replaced the Dutch language as the state language in the then South African Union . The monument consists of various tapering convex and concave structures and symbolizes influences of different languages and cultures on Afrikaans itself, as well as on the political developments in South Africa:
- bright west - the European heritage of the language
- magical Africa - the influence of the African continent on the language
- the bridge - between Europe and Africa
- Afrikaans - the language itself
- Republic - declared 1961
- Malay language and culture
On a large plaque at the entrance you can read two inscriptions by well-known Afrikaans poets:
- Afrikaans is the taal wat vir Wes-Europa en Africa connect ... Dit vorm 'n brug tussen the groot helder Weste en die magiese Afrika ... En wat daar groots aan hulle vereniging kan ontspruit - dit is miskien wat vir Afrikaans voorlê om te ontdek. Maar wat ons nooit moet vergeet nie, is dat hierdie verandering van land en landskap as't ware aan die nuwe wende taal geslyp, knee, brrei het… En so het Afrikaans in state om here the nuwe land uit te sê… Ons taak lê in the Gebruik wat ons maak en sal maak van hierdie glansende werktuig ... ( NP van Wyk Louw )
- "Afrikaans is the language that connects Western Europe and Africa ... It forms a bridge between the great shining West and magical Africa ... And whatever great things may emerge from this connection - that is possibly what lies ahead of us Africans to be discovered . But what we must never forget is that this change in the country and the landscape has sharpened, kneaded and knitted this newly emerging language ... And so Afrikaans was able to speak of this new country from within ... Our task is to use, that we will make of this brilliant gift ... "
- As ons nou here in the saal af 'n ry pale sou plant, tien pale, om die laaste tien jaar voor te stel, en aan elke paal' n merk sou maak op 'n hoogte van die vloer af ooreenkomende met die betreklike skryfgebruik van Afrikaans in die respektiewe jaartal, en 'n streep deur die notes trek van die eerste af here naby die vloer tot by die laaste daar anderkant teen die solder, dan sou die streep' n snelstygende boog beskryf, never net vinnig opgaande nie, maar opgaande na 'n vinnig avoiding speech. Laat ons nou in ons verbeelding die boog verleng vir die tien komende jare van nou af. Sien u menere waar the punt sal wees, daar buite in the bloue lug hoog oor Bloemfontein, in the jaar 1924. ( CJ Langenhoven )
- “If we now erect a series of pillars along these halls, ten pillars to represent the past ten years, and put a mark on each of these pillars that corresponds to the relative written use of Afrikaans in that year, and if we have a line from Draw the first mark here near the floor to the last one just below the ceiling, then this line would describe a rapidly rising arc, and not only rising rapidly, but also rising at an ever faster rate. Let us now, in our imagination, extend this arc for the next ten years. Look, dear guests, where the point will be, out there in the blue sky high above Bloemfontein , in 1924. "
The sentence “DIT IS ONS ERNS” (for example: “We are serious”) is engraved on the path leading to the memorial.
Other monuments
The first Afrikaans Taalmonument was inaugurated in Burgersdorp as early as 1893 in order to promote the desired recognition of Afrikaans. It disappeared in an unexplained manner during the Second Boer War and was only found damaged in King William's Town in 1939 . As early as 1907, however, the British government of South Africa had a replica of the original made.
Today the original is back in its original place; the replica is in the foyer of the city library.
Web links
Coordinates: 33 ° 45 ′ 56 ″ S , 18 ° 56 ′ 33 ″ O