http://hdl.handle.net/10500/2994 2013-05-20T14:00:06Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/6402 THE HANS MERENSKY PAPERS 1900- 1986 (ADA Acc 51) Coetzee, Marié A; Transvaal Provincial Museum Service HANS MERENSKY 1871-1952 Hans Merensky was born at Botshabelo in 1871 and he died at Westfalia in 1952. He was educated in South Africa and Germany and graduated as a mining engineer at the University of Berlin. In 1904 Merensky started practising as a consulting geologist and mining engineer. He received many commissions for geological reports on a variety of mineral deposits and his practice became exceptionally profitable. In 1923 Merensky learnt that platinum ore had been discovered in the Waterberge. A year later the first platinum ore bearing dunite pipe was discovered. Further follow-up work led to the discovery of the Merensky Reef, a pseudo-stratified, mineralised pyroxenite stratum in the norites of the Bushveld Complex. It is estimated that the Merensky Reef extends for some 300 kilometres and constitutes by far the largest known reserve of platinum on earth. In 1926 diamonds were discovered in Namaqualand. Through negotiation he obtained twenty-three claims which he later sold to the Oppenheimer-Barnato group for more than a million pounds. Merensky also played an important role in the discovery of gold in the famous West Wits Line as well as in the Free State. In 1937 he discovered one of the world’s richest deposits of vermiculite near Phalaborwa. He discovered phosphates of good quality sufficient to provide for the country’s needs for many years to come in 1946. The state took over the claims and Foskor was established. After his phosphate triumph, Merensky retired to Westfalia and set up the Merensky Trust of R5 000 000. During his last years he devoted himself to soil conservation, forestry and the cultivation of fruit, especially citrus and avocado pears. In 1974 the Merensky Trust was converted into the Merensky Foundation with the intention to help develop South Africa’s natural resources and to preserve its water, soil, fauna and flora. HANS MERENSKY PAPERS (1900 – 1986) The Hans Merensky Papers were microfilmed in 1994 by the University of South Africa as a joint Unisa and Merensky Foundation Project. Microfiche copies of the Merensky Papers are available to researchers in the Unisa Archives as Accession 51 in the Hesse Collection of German Africana. The original Papers of the renowned mining engineer, geologist, prospector, farmer, nature conservationist and philanthropist are housed at the Westfalia Estate Museum in the Duiwelskloof District. The first section of the Papers reflect Merensky’s private life and his estate and the second part his geological and farming activities. A detailed index ensures easy access. The third part consists of speeches, articles, photographs, brochures and reports of the Merensky Foundation. Inventory in the Unisa Archives, German Africana Collection (ADA Acc 51). 12 Microfiches. 2012-09-05T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/5145 Gotthilf Ernst Westphal & Carl Theodor Gotthilf Gotthardt Westphal Papers 1884-1965 (ADA Acc 21) Van der Walt, Marietjie; Coetzee, Marié A The archival materials of the Berlin Mission Society missionaries Gotthilf Ernst Westphal (1855 - 1922) and Carl Theodor Gotthilf Gotthardt Westphal (1886 – 1965), father and son, contain information on the religious, cultural, educational and social role of German missionaries in Southern Africa during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In 1884 Ernst was ordained by Director Wangemann. Ernst married Wilhelmine Marie Sack (1860 -1941), a teacher from Germany, during the same year. After Martin Baumbach’s death, Ernst Westphal became responsible for Pniel. He was in charge of Pniel Mission until his death in 1922. Pniel was a difficult mission station to manage during the diamond rush when diggers fom all over the world descended on Kimberley. Solomon Plaatje (1876 – 1932), newspaper editor, author, translator of Shakespearean plays into Tswana, leader of the Bantu Advisory Board and founder member of the African National Congress, was educated at Pniel Mission School by Ernst and Marie Westphal. The Westphals were musical and Pniel’s Choir was famous in Kimberley and surroundings. Gotthardt Westphal was born in Kimberley and educated at Pniel, Bethanie and Kimberley. He studied in Germany and was ordained a missionary in 1916. He married Margarethe Elizabeth Therese Krause (1894-1964) in the same year. Gotthardt’s first mission station was Khalavha in Venda. In 1935 Gotthardt was transferred to Johannesburg where he established several new congregations. He died in 1965. The Westphal Papers (2,1 linear metres) The archival records consist of diaries, letter books, publications, sound recordings and photographs which were donated to the Archives over a period of time by Mrs C Kaske, the Knothe Family, Mrs Thiede and others. Inventory in the Unisa Archives, German Africana Collection (ADA Acc 21). 21 Boxes. 2011-12-02T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/3991 Dr HT Wangemann Sketches (1866-1885) (ADA Acc 29) Steyn, JF; Coetzee, Marié A This Wangemann Collection consists of photographs, negatives and copies of 151 drawings made by Dr Hermann Theodor Wangemann during his two visits to the country. The main themes of the sketches are landscapes and the Berlin Mission stations. The Wangemann sketches in our holdings are from the Berlin Mission Archives in Germany and the National Cultural History Museum in Pretoria. The Museum bought the 106 original sketches - 48 watercolours, 6 large watercolour studies in sepia, 1 full colour aquarelle, 48 lead pencil drawings and 3 ordinary pencil drawings - in 1954 from the Berlin art dealer, WA Luts. Dr Wangemann (1818-1894) was appointed Director of the Berlin Mission Society in 1865. After his first visit to the Berlin Mission stations, he published a diary Eine Reise-Jahr in Süd-Afrika, in Berlin in 1868. In 1884, Dr Wangemann again visited the mission stations to celebrate the golden jubilee of the first Berlin Mission station in South Africa at Bethanie. Ein zweites Reisejahr in in Süd-Afrika, was published in 1886. Dr Wangemann’s sketches include drawings, among others, of the mission stations at Zoar, Amalienstein, Pniel, Bethel, Bethanie, Botsabelo, Zebedela, Wallmansthal, Herbertsdale and Mossel Bay. The Wangemann drawings are of considerable cultural historical interest and have been of great value to researchers. Dr Wangemann sketched each station in detail and drew the topography of the area in which the missionaries settled. He also made sketches of the towns and the indigenous villages. All sites were meticulously described and dated. Inventory in the Unisa Archives, German Africana Collection (ADA Acc 29) 2 Boxes 2011-02-02T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10500/3011 Ernst Georg Heinrich Hermann Blohm Papers, 1912-1987 (ADA Acc 38) Coetzee, Marié A Ernst George Heinrich Hermann (Heini) Blohm (1912-1987) was involved with the development of German South African trade, economy, education and culture. As a German subject, he was interned during World War II. Thereafter he joined the German-Afrikaans Relief Association (DAHA). In 1950 he was appointed business and financial manager of the Hans Merensky Trust. He became President of the Hans Merensky Foundation in 1978 and also served on the Board of SAMAD, later Volkswagen of South Africa. The Papers include information on CONDIP Properties, the development of German Schools, the Hermann Olthaver Trust Fund, the Overseas Trust Corporation, the South African German Chamber of Trade & Industry Ltd etc. Mr Blohm’s autobiography, correspondence with his mother, Gräfin Selma von Baudissin, and with the American branch of the Blohm family, form part of the Papers. Inventory in the Unisa Archives, German Africana Collection (ADA Acc 38). 56 Boxes. 2010-01-12T09:26:04Z