The life and times of Christoph Sandrock, missionary of the Berlin Mission Society during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) at Springfontein, South Africa
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Authors
Britz, Dolf
Issue Date
2012-12
Type
Article
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
This article traces the life and times of Christoph Sandrock (1845–1930), a missionary with the
Berlin Mission Society, during the Anglo Boer War at Springfontein in the southern Free State,
South Africa. Based mainly on his diary, his Erinnerungen aus dem südafrikansichen Kriege aus
dem Jahre 1899–1902 and primary sources from South African archives, this research not only
contributes to the biography of a remarkable missionary, but also to our knowledge of the local
experience of the Anglo-Boer War by blacks and whites who lived at Springfontein or who were
forced during the war to reside in the differentiated refugee (or concentration) camps that were
erected at the railway station.1 Sandrock lived in Springfontein throughout the war and ministered
to the Boer commandos, a German and a British field hospital, his mission congregation and the
white and black concentration camps. He received international visitors – Missionsdirektor
Gensichen (from Berlin), the German Consul, and the activist Emily Hobhouse. The article
discloses a unique perspective on the Anglo-Boer War, which was renowned for its scorched earth
tactics, guerrilla warfare and concentration camps.
Description
Peer reviewed
Citation
Britz, Dolf. (2012), The life and times of Christoph Sandrock, missionary of the Berlin Mission Society during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) at Springfontein, South Africa. Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae Vol. 38(2), pp. 223-246
Publisher
Church History Society of Southern Africa
License
© 2012 Church History Society of Southern Africa
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
ISSN
1017-0499