Stellenbosch
| Stellenbosch | |||
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| Coordinates | 33 ° 56 ′ S , 18 ° 52 ′ E | ||
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| Basic data | |||
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Western cape | |||
| District | Cape Winelands | ||
| ISO 3166-2 | ZA toilet | ||
| local community | Stellenbosch | ||
| height | 114 m | ||
| surface | 812 km² | ||
| Residents | 19,068 (2011) | ||
| density | 23.5 Ew. / km² | ||
| founding | 1679 | ||
| Website | www.stellenbosch.gov.za (English) | ||
 Looking east over Plein Street
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Stellenbosch ( Afrikaans : [stɛləmˈbos], [ˈstɛləmbos] ) is a city in the Western Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa . After Cape Town, it is the oldest settlement founded by Europeans in today's South Africa. In 2011 the city had 19,068 inhabitants. Together with immediately neighboring towns such as Khayamandi and Cloetesville, the population was 77,476.
geography
Stellenbosch is located about 50 kilometers east of Cape Town on the Eerste Rivier river at 114 meters above sea level. Stellenbosch is the administrative seat of the municipality of the same name , which also includes the places Franschhoek and Pniel as well as the townships Khayamandi, Ida's Valley and Cloetesville. The city lies in a mountain landscape with fertile valleys. The surrounding area is dominated by agriculture and is one of the most important wine-growing regions in South Africa . The N1 trunk road runs ten kilometers north of the city .
climate
The climate in Stellenbosch is very similar to that of Cape Town. The monthly minimum and maximum values are slightly further apart, as Stellenbosch is a little further inland. The average monthly rainfall is less than 25 mm in summer and between 50 and 75 mm in winter. The mean maximum values reach almost 25 ° C in summer and around 17 ° C in winter; the mean lows are between 14 ° C and 18 ° C in summer, and over 10 ° C in winter.
history
After the main locality Stellenbosch the works, the Middle (is Middle Stone Age ) Stellenbosch industry named.
After the Dutch East India Company (VOC) began to colonize the Cape region in the middle of the 17th century and Cape Town was founded in 1652, the Dutch governor of Cape Town, Simon van der Stel , called in 1679 in the course of the settlement of the further hinterland on the river Eerste River created a new settlement. After its founder, the place was first called "Stelenbusch", later also "Busch van der Stel" and finally "Stellenbosch". The first settlers operated agriculture and, after a failed oak reforestation, increasingly turned to viticulture. For a long time, Stellenbosch remained the easternmost outpost in the Cape region, and the VOC set up a camp with soldiers to protect it. Due to the good economic conditions, the city grew rapidly, in 1682 a regional authority was established and in 1685 Stellenbosch became the place of jurisdiction.
Large fires ravaged the city in 1710, 1804, and 1875, and multiple floods of the Eerste River wreaked havoc. These setbacks and the expansion of the Cape Colony to the east and north as well as the increasing influence of the British caused many settlers to finally leave the city in the course of the "Great Trek" , so that its importance declined more and more in the 19th century. Only the establishment of the university in 1918 gave the city back some of its former importance.
In the middle of the 20th century, viticulture began to recover economically for a short time before the sanctions imposed because of the apartheid policy caused a renewed decline. Only after the abolition of apartheid did economic life pick up again, with tourism increasingly establishing itself alongside viticulture.
economy
The Stellenbosch community is known for the export of high-quality wine, which comes from over 120 wineries, and is considered a good address for tourism, which has recorded high growth rates for years. There are around 260 mostly smaller accommodation establishments with a total of over 3000 beds and more than 140 restaurants. Since the 1990s, Stellenbosch has been one of the medium-sized cities in South Africa with the fastest growing economy.
Educational institutions
Stellenbosch is home to the Stellenbosch University, one of the leading universities in South Africa. It emerged from a grammar school founded in 1866. Here the intellectual elite of the Boers had their roots; numerous high-ranking politicians studied or taught here. In 2013 about 28,000 students were enrolled in Stellenbosch; the university has ten faculties . The main building, the "Ou Hoofgebou", was built in 1886 in the neoclassical style.
Attractions
In Stellenbosch many houses from the time of the East India Company in Cape Dutch style have been preserved, so that the city center is a sight in itself. Four of the most beautiful houses have been combined to form the Dorp Museum . They have been carefully restored and furnished with furniture from the time they were built, such as the Rozenhof .
In the south of the city is the Erfurt House , a Victorian-style villa built in 1876 .
In the eastern city center is Stellenbosch's oldest church, the Dutch Reformed Moederkerk , built in 1772. Originally with a thatched roof, the church was rebuilt in 1863 by the German architect Carl Otto Hager in the neo-Gothic style. The gleaming white facade is typical of the Western Cape.
Due to the lack of suitable timber in the Cape (here the fynbos prevail), the VOC switched to planting oaks. Stellenbosch has a particularly large number of specimens that also function as avenue trees here, which has earned the city the nickname Eikestad (oak town).
sons and daughters of the town
- Arno Carstens (* 1972), singer
- Giniel de Villiers (* 1972), motor sportsman
- Heinz Winckler (* 1978), singer
- JP Pietersen (born 1986), rugby player
- Jacobus Venter (* 1987), racing cyclist
- Bernette Beyers (* 1992), cyclist
- Stefan de Bod (* 1996), racing cyclist
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Welgevonden , Cloetesville , Khayamandi , Pappegaai , La Colline , Tennantville , Idasvallei , Stellenbosch , Onder Papegaaiberg , Devon Valley , Dalsig , Kleingeluk , Paradyskloof , Brandwacht 2011 census (added), accessed on 25 March 2018