Gotthilf Ernst Westphal & Carl Theodor Gotthilf Gotthardt Westphal Papers 1884-1965 (ADA Acc 21)

Abstract

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.