Middelburg, Eastern Cape
Province
Middelburg is a small town in the municipality Inxuba Yethemba, Chris Hani District, Eastern Cape Province in South Africa.
Location and transport
The town was founded in the valley of Kleinbrakrivier and is located on the northeastern foothills of the Sneeuberg Mountains.
By Middelburg lead the N9 and N10 national roads and a railway line. Both create connections to northern Bloemfontein. The N9 has a connection to Oudtshoorn and the N10 to the south -lying Port Elizabeth on the Indian Ocean.
The regional road R56 leads from Middelburg in eastern direction over Molteno, Dordrecht, Maclear, Matatiele after Kokstad, where it ends. Your west -directed forms the continuation of regional road R398, the National Road reached in Richmond N1 to Cape Town.
The center of town is served by a perpendicular scale road system.
The city has a small regional airport, which is located southeast of the city, near the intersecting National Road N9 and N10. The airport has currently (2009) does not have IATA code.
Population, employment situation
2011, the city had 18,681 inhabitants. In the region around Middelburg sheep farming and horse industry operates. The tourism industry is based on the natural and climatic conditions. The low air flow conditions have made here arise a meeting place for friends of paragliding and hang glider flying.
History
On February 6, 1837 Government of the Cape Colony announced the formation of the District of Colesberg. This was divided into six areas: Middelveld, Winterveld, Upper Sea Cow River, Lower Sea Cow River, Nieu - Hantam Agter - Suurberg. Because the distance between the towns of Graaff- Reinet and Colesberg was very large, it was decided for now to become farmland area to start in the middle of the track a new city.
By decision of the Dutch Reformed Church in Colesberg could be formed into a separate parish with on 19 May 1852. As of the 19th of June in the same year, the Government of the Cape Colony formed a community magistrate. Middelburg emerged from the farms Kleinfontein, Grootfontein and Driefontein. As the farm Driefontein still sold in the same year, they called the new owners Middelburg ( German: Mittelburg ).
Attractions
- The Middelburg Cultural History Museum is located in a Victorian architectural style building that was built in 1898 and served as a school until 1914. It preserves collections of the city and its region. This includes biographical information about some regionally important people. Among the preserved here archaeological finds include tools from Stone Age cultures.
- The Grootfontein Museum displays a collection of the agriculture of the region and about the Second Boer War.
Environment
The surroundings of the town consists of a mountainous country with the character of the Great Karoo. The National Road N9 exceeds south of Middelburg with the Lootsberg Pass the eastern foothills of the Sneeuberg Mountains.
Climate, geology
The city of Middelburg is situated in the Great Karoo and in the north-western edge of the Great Fish River Basin (Fish River Basin ). In the winter months the nearby mountains usually wear a blanket of snow.
On Lootsberg - pass there are some well-known fossil fields for the transition from the Permian and Triassic periods.
Associated with the city people
- John Phillip Harison Acocks, South African botanist and conservationist
- Athol Fugard ( born June 11, 1932), South African writer
- Bob Southey
- Edward Eddie Albert Stuart ( born May 12, 1931), South African football player
- Steven Sykes (born 5 August 1984), South African rugby player
- Tiro Vorster, the South African Air Artist
- Gottfried Andreas Watermeyer (* October 15, 1917 in Spitzkop in Middelburg, † 1972), poet afrikaanssprachiger