Fort Klapperkop
Fort Klapperkop is a (former) fort in Pretoria , Gauteng Province in South Africa , which is now the location of the Fort Klapperkop Military Museum .
history
background
It is one of the four forts that the South African Republic (CAR) built to protect Pretoria shortly before 1900; the other three forts are Fort Schanskop , Fort Wonderboompoort and Fort Daspoortrand .
The forts were built in response to the Jameson Raid , which was crushed in 1896 . The Jameson Raid and the high number of foreigners who immigrated after the gold was found in the Witwatersrand (in the area of today's Johannesburg ) made the security of the capital of the South African Republic (CAR) appear to be at risk.
Therefore, a plan to secure the capital was developed. On March 24, 1896, the government of the South African Republic approved the construction of eight forts (only four of which were built).
History of the fort
Fort Klapperkop was built by the German engineers Otto Albert Adolph von Dewitz and Heinrich C. Werner from the Krupp company according to the plans of the architect Christiaan Kuntz and handed over on January 18, 1898.
The fort is a south-facing pentagonal complex with fortified, semi-underground rooms, which was additionally protected by a fortress moat and barbed wire .
Several cannons of various calibres were stationed in the fort to protect Pretoria against advancing troops, and the fort itself was able to secure the surrounding area through numerous loopholes .
After the beginning of the Second Boer War , men and weapons were withdrawn from the fort, so that it fell to the British troops on June 5, 1900 without a fight.
After the end of the Second Boer War, Fort Klapperkop remained a military facility.
On July 8, 1938, Fort Klapperkop was declared a " National Monument ", which was renovated in 1966 and then became the location of the Fort Klapperkop Military Museum .
Fort Klapperkop Military Museum
The Fort Klapperkop Military Museum documents the military history of South Africa from around 1850 to the end of the second Boer War.
On the site of Fort Klapperkop are
- the memorial of the South African Army for soldiers killed on duty.
- a tank locomotive built by NGR Neilson-Reid in 1898 that was used to transport troops during the Second Boer War.
Others
Fort Klapperkop is located south of Pretoria, east of the N12 national road . Fort Schanskop is on the western side on the site of the Voortrekker Monument .
Web links
- short info. on www.planetware.com
- short info. on www.suedafrikatour.de
- to the exhibited locomotive. on www.steamlocomotive.info
Coordinates: 25 ° 46 ′ 49.1 ″ S , 28 ° 12 ′ 36 ″ E