Iziko Slave Lodge

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The entrance to the museum on Adderley Street
The back gable front of the Slave Lodge on Parliament Street, Spin Street leading off to the left

The Iziko Slave Lodge (originally Dutch Slaven Lodge , German about "slave accommodation", later also Old Slave Lodge ) has been a museum on the history of slavery in Cape Town , South Africa since the 20th century . Located on the edge of downtown, its main entrance on the corner of Adderley and Wale Streets, it is housed in a historic building that has long served as a home for slaves.

history

Slaves had been around the Cape since 1658, six years after it was taken over by European settlers. There were two groups: some of the slaves belonged to the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the other belonged to private individuals, the Burghers . The accommodation of the VOC slaves was difficult at first, they lived in a demarcated area of ​​the fortifications of Cape Town until the construction of the first building of today's slave lodge .

The Slave Lodge is one of the oldest buildings in the city, it was built in 1679 in the Cape Colony . The building has been changed several times over the years. Architecturally, the Slave Lodge is reminiscent of a military building with its narrow windows. The building was inhabited by slaves (and their descendants) until 1811, who had been brought to Cape Town from Madagascar , India , Indonesia and Mozambique , among others . In the 132 years of its existence as slave accommodation, 7,000 to 9,000 people lived there; on average there were 476 people who lived there at the same time. In the middle of the 18th century, more than a thousand people lived in the building at the same time.

The slaves from the former Slaven Lodge worked for the VOC mainly as craftsmen, artisans and gardeners. The Iziko Museums of South Africa and the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Cape Town are jointly researching the history of slaves. So far, 3638 names, places of origin and death dates of slaves have been found. The Slaven Lodge was the largest slave accommodation in the area; in addition to slaves, mentally ill people, delinquents and political prisoners were also housed there. Life in the accommodation was strictly hierarchical, with some slaves also having administrative tasks and controlling other slaves. During the night the Slaven Lodge was locked.

The slaves in the Slaven Lodge lived in poorer and worse conditions than those owned by private individuals who worked on farms. In some years 20 to 30 percent of the residents died, which is mainly due to the poor hygienic conditions, but also to epidemics. In 1713, 1755 and 1767, for example, smallpox broke out in the Slaven Lodge. The building was dark, poorly ventilated, and very humid, and the nutrition poor.

All residents of the Slaven Lodge were baptized in the Dutch Reformed , the children received religious instruction in the lodge's school, and two Sunday worship services were compulsory. There was an infirmary in the east wing of the building.

The building

The original structures of the slave lodge were created here in the vicinity of the former garden of the VOC, where the slaves were assigned as workers. In the middle of the 18th century, a second wing was added. At the end of the 17th century, the architects Louis Michel Thibault and Herman Schutte made significant changes. The section of the building facing Heerengracht Street (now Adderley Street ) was given a new design, including an elliptical vestibule with a double staircase leading to the upper floor. When the road was widened in 1926, this area was irreversibly changed. The new facade only took into account the external appearance and no longer the overall design by Thibault, because it was set back 13.4 meters in the cubature of the building.

Pediment decorations on Parliament Street

As a result of the second British intervention in the Cape and the practice of slave labor, which has meanwhile been questioned by some European immigrants, the building complex lost its previous function. Thibault and Schutte converted it into a government building. In this context, modifications were made to the facade. The rear of the building on Parliament Street was given a gable with the British coat of arms based on a design by Anton Anreith . Its design mocks the British colonial power with a resting lion (lying to the left of the coat of arms) and a unicorn (to the right of the coat of arms), which looks half upright and surprised. In this rear part of the building, Thibault created a large assembly room and converted the slave quarters into service rooms for judges. At the same time he designed the window front according to new proportions. A few months later the courtroom was built . This is considered to be a masterpiece of interior design by Thibault.

For more than 100 years the building was used for the judiciary ( Old Supreme Court ). Later it was the seat of administrative authorities, the tax authority, the attorney general, the postal administration and other regional authorities. In the 1950s, when Spin Street was expanded, parts of the building were threatened with demolition. It escaped this planned interference only through objections by the Historical Monuments Commission and some other institutions.

After that it was used as the Museum of the Cultural History of South Africa, which was renamed Iziko Slave Lodge in 1998.

museum

The Iziko Slave Lodge belongs to the state museum association Iziko - Museums of South Africa. The main theme of the museum is “From human wrongs to human rights” (German: “From human mistakes to human rights”). The titles of the permanent exhibitions at Slave Lodge are “Remembering Slavery”, “Slave Origins - Cultural Echoes” and “From African Earth: Celebrating our African Vessel Heritage”. The changing exhibitions deal with human rights issues such as today's forms of slavery.

Web links

Commons : Old Slave Lodge, Cape Town  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Resolutions of the Council of Policy of Cape of Good Hope - Cape Town Archives Repository South Africa. databases.tanap.net (Dutch), accessed August 4, 2018
  2. ^ Katherine J. Goodnow, Jack Lohman, Jatti Bredekamp: Challenge and Transformation: Museums in Cape Town and Sydney . Paris, UNESCO 2006 p. 109 ISBN 9232028166
  3. ↑ Copac: bibliographic evidence . on www.copac.jisc.ac.uk (English)
  4. ^ A b The early Cape slave trade. sahistory.org.za, accessed August 4, 2018
  5. ^ A b c d Désirée Picton-Seymour, Janek Szymanowski: Historical Buildings in South Africa . Struikhof, Cape Town 1989, p. 19, ISBN 0-947458-01-8
  6. ↑ Slaves at Work, Iziko homepage , accessed on July 31, 2018
  7. ↑ Admincontrol, Iziko homepage , accessed on July 31, 2018
  8. ↑ Slave Lodge Living conditions, Iziko homepage , accessed on July 31, 2018
  9. ^ Religion, Iziko homepage , accessed on July 31, 2018
  10. ^ Slave Lodge Hospital, Iziko homepage , accessed July 31, 2018
  11. ^ Alan Mountain: To Unsung Heritage. Perspectives on Slavery . Claremont 2004, pp. 139-140 ISBN 0-86486-622-4

Coordinates: 33 ° 55 ′ 30.2 ″  S , 18 ° 25 ′ 13.4 ″  E