Stutterheim (G 14)

Name: Stutterheim

Stutterheim is situated at the foot of the eastern slopes of the Kologha Mountains, a spur of the Amatola range, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

Blessed by an abundant natural beauty of its surrounding dams, hills, indigenous forests, farmland and forestry areas


Google count:
Date:

Historic fact:

Stutterheim is situated at the foot of the eastern slopes of the Kologha mountains, a spur of the Amatola range, in the area of the East Cape Province which the British named "British Kaffraria".
The first Europeans to settle in the area were missionaries of the Berlin Missionary Society who established the Bethel Mission Station here in 1837. At about the same time a fort was built and named Dohne Post after Dr. Dohne, the first German Missionary. The Xhosa, who had slowly migrated down the east coast of Southern Africa, were already well established in this area by the 1800's. The Missionaries would certainly not have chosen this site if there were not a steady supply of potential converts. Unfortunately, lack of written records means that events prior to the Missionaries arrival are largely unknown.

In 1857 members of the 3rd regiment of the British German Legion (A mercenary unit recruited to fight in the Crimean War) were settled in the area, probably because there had already been conflict between Xhosa and Settler. It was decided to name the new settlement "Stutterheim", after the Legions commanding officer. Von Stutterheim commenced the construction of a large mansion, which was never completed due to his return to Germany on urgent private business, after only eight months in this country. He never returned and died in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1872, age 65.

This first German settlement was not a great success, as most of the men were without families and many drifted off to India or other parts of Southern Africa at the first opportunity. In an attempt to alleviate this "desertion", the British Government imported 34 German families in 1858 and 1859. These new families were not soldier's, but farmers, and from that point the town developed quickly. As the farmers gradually toiled towards prosperity, English and Dutch settlers moved into the area and steady development took place. On 20 May 1879 Stutterheim was proclaimed a Municipality.

The railway line from East London to Queenstown was completed in 1880, and although it bypassed Stutterheim by 3 or 4 miles, it made a tremendous difference to trade in the area. Unfortunately, the nearest station at Kubusie became inaccessible whenever the rivers flooded. This difficulty was only solved in 1942 when the line was upgraded and re-routed through Stutterheim. The town received it's first piped water in 1906 and electricity in 1929.


Possibly the most decisive period in Stutterheim's history came in the 1980's, when extremely poor living conditions, harsh government policies and the on-going liberation struggle gave rise to increasing protest from the Xhosa inhabitants of Stutterheim. This cumulated in a boycott of local white businesses which lasted for 7 months and crippled the town, finally bringing all local parties to the negotiating table. For more detailed information on this period see the Recent History page.
Most of the information contained in this section of the Stutterheim Web Site is extracted from two booklet's titled "Historical Stutterheim" and "The British-German Legion", published by the Stutterheim Historical Society. The contents of the Recent History page are extracted from the book "Making a Difference", written by Barbara Nussbaum, sponsored by Barlow Limited and published by Vivlia Publishers and Booksellers (Pty) Ltd.

Source: http://stutterheim.eci.co.za/history.htm
Other interesting info:

Where to stay:

Sites: http://sites.google.com/site/saplacenames/