Springfontein

Springfontein
Springfontein
Coordinates	30 ° 15 '56 "  S , 25 ° 42' 25"  O Coordinates: 30 ° 15 '56 "  S , 25 ° 42' 25"  O
Basic data
Country	South Africa
province	free State
District	Xhariep
local community	Kopanong
height	1515 m
surface	15.1 km²
Residents	1177 (2011)
density	78.1  Ew. / km²
founding	1904
Springfontein train station

Springfontein is a place in the South African province of Free State . It is located in Kopanong Township in Xhariep District and is an important transport hub .

geography

Springfontein is a rural place. It is on the N1 national road . In 2011 it had 1177 inhabitants. The eastern township of Maphodi had 2522 inhabitants. Bloemfontein is around 150 kilometers north.

history

At the beginning of the 1890s, a train station on the newly built line from Johannesburg to Cape Town was built on the Springfontein farm (German: "Springende Quelle", or Artesian fountain ) . In addition, a mission station of the Berlin Mission Society was established there . During the Second Boer War , a British concentration camp was located on the site of the Springfontein Farm , in which 704 Boer women and children were killed. The British Emily Hobhouse visited the camp and then stood up for the prisoners. There was also a German and a British field hospital there . Springfontein was founded in 1904 on the Hartleydale farm , part of the Springfontein farm . In 1912 the settlement was given municipal status.

Economy and Transport

The main source of income is agriculture, especially sheep and cattle breeding and the cultivation of maize.

Springfontein is a transport hub. The N1, which connects Johannesburg and Cape Town among others, curves east around Springfontein. The R717 leads from the north parallel to the N1 to Springfontein, the R715 leads southeast to Bethulie .

Springfontein station is located between the town center and Maphodi on the Bloemfontein – Cape Town railway line, which runs almost parallel to the N1. The line to East London branches off in Springfontein . The routes mentioned are used for freight and passenger traffic. Another rail line used for freight traffic leads northwest to Koffiefontein .

Web links

Commons : Springfontein  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Springfontein , accessed July 8, 2017
2. ↑ Maphodi , accessed on July 8, 2017
3. ^ ^{A b c} Dolf Britz: The life and times of Christoph Sandrock, missionary of the Berlin Mission Society, during the Anglo-Boer war (1899–1902) at Springfontein, South Africa. from the University of South Africa website , accessed November 4, 2014
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} portrait at places.co.za (English), accessed on November 4, 2014