Heidelberg Kloof Cemetery gains blue plaque status
Hstory makers part of latest blue plaque for heritage.
Tony Burisch of the Heidelberg Heritage Association awarded the latest blue plaque for Heritage to the Heidelberg Kloof Cemetery on December 4.
The blue plaque is number 75 in the series of heritage sites.
According to reports, the first person to have been laid to rest in the Kloof Cemetery was Thomas Fannin in 1865.
Fannin died of malaria two weeks after surveying Heidelberg town. Fannin passed away on December 19, 1865.
There are beliefs that the graves from the original farm cemetery that was located at the intersection of Fenter and Begeman streets were reburied in the Kloof Cemetery.
The first women and children that died in the concentration camps, together with British and Boer soldiers in the second Anglo Boer War (1899 to 1902) were also buried in the cemetery.
Furthermore, well-known history makers from Heidelberg are buried in the cemetery.
This includes Heinrich Ueckermann (founder of Heidelberg), Frederik Maré (Heidelberg’s first magistrate), Ds Nikolaas van Warmelo (Heidelberg’s first Dutch Reformed Church minister), General Cornelius Spryt, General Piet Retief Viljoen, Dr James O’Reilly, Dr AG Visser, Veld Cornet Salmon van As, WS McLaren, Captain Ronald Miers, King and Empire graves, Dr E Nixon, Cmdt JC Kriegler, Theo Donges (first headmaster), DS AJ Louw, John Pagan, Baron Horst von Zeppelin and many more.
During the reburial ceremony of Commandant JC Spruyt, General Christiaan de Wet, Louis Botha and Jan Smuts delivered speeches.
The people laid to rest in the Kloof Cemetery are responsible for sculpting Heidelberg’s rich history.
The sponsors of the blue plaque are Dawie, Charlene, Jean, Anke and Ludwig de Villiers.
Anyone who wants to become involved, be a sponsor or be part of commemorating history in Heidelberg may contact Burisch on 072 460 9663.
