The story of the Huguenot Memorial Museum is quite fascinating, and lends the Building and its contents a certain charm and intrigue. In the 1700’s, the Saasveld Building was the home of: Baron Willem Ferdinand van Reede from
Oudtshoorn, who built it in 1791. His Estate was in what is now the heart of
Cape Town at the foot of
Table Mountain and
Signal Hill. However, in 1957, the
Dutch Reformed Church won the appeal to demolish the Building (to replace it with a youth hostel), despite its History and Heritage ties. So, it was decided to move the entire structure, numbered brick by numbered brick, to another location-alongside the Huguenot Monument in the nearby Village of Franschhoek! Each brick was placed precisely where it had been in the original Building, which was designed by famous French Architect,
Louis Michel Thibault.
“That was part of the deal. The resurgence of (what would one call it?) Afrikaans awareness, language, who we are. We had a terrible past. We had to get over that. Somehow either bury it and start anew - I don’t know - or try and understand what had happened. Identity was probably the main thing. We didn’t even know it, but that was what we were doing. We were identifying ourselves.” - Martie Meiring
It took ten years to complete entirely, and the museum was reopened in 1967! The exhibition includes original silverware, furniture, bibles, and even documents. There are lovely Gardens at the Huguenot Memorial Museum, and visitors are invited to bring along a picnic basket and enjoy the loveliness of
Franschhoek, which is one of the main Towns of the Cape Winelands! The Huguenot Memorial Museum is open seven days a week, and offers its visitors the opportunity to learn about:
French Huguenots before their arrival in
South Africa; the challenges they faced getting here; their lives and customs and the effect they had on modern
South African Culture! His estate was in what is now the heart of Cape Town at the foot of Table Mountain and Signal Hill. However, in 1957, the Dutch Reformed Church won the appeal to demolish the building (
to replace it with a youth hostel), despite its History and
Heritage ties.
