The second oldest pub in Joburg
BRAAMFONTEIN – The Milner Park Hotel is one of the oldest buildings in Braamfontein and is home to popular party spot, Kitchener’s Carvery Bar, which also happens to be Jozi’s second oldest pub.
It has been reported that the hotel was built in 1898 and was originally known as the Hansa Bar and Hotel. In 101 Beloved Bars of South Africa it states that in 1899, field marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener met with Sir Alfred Milner in the bar, which is now known as Kitchener’s Carvery Bar, and that is, in fact, how the two establishments received their names.
“Soon after, this establishment changed its name to Milner Park Hotel, and the pub [changed] to Kitchener’s Carvery Bar in acknowledgment of the honour bestowed on them,” the book read.
Herbert Kitchener was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator who became famous for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of WWI, despite the fact that he died half way through it when the ship he was sailing on hit a naval mine. It is also reported that Kitchener oversaw the concentration camps that were established in South Africa during the Second Boer War.
The Milner Park Hotel was restored in 2011, in keeping with the urban regeneration that took place in Braamfontein at the time. However, the building still has its old-world charm, with gorgeous broekie lace awnings and original wooden floors – and it can be easily spotted now thanks to its new blue coat of paint. Kitchener’s itself has maintained its original features and, despite some minor renovations, still looks the same as it did when it first opened, giving rise to a number of ghost stories. There have been stories about the wallpaper suddenly distorting, while others claim they have seen an apparition of a high ranking red-jacketed British officer standing at the bar.
Whether these stories are true or simply come from a number of students and locals who frequent the again-trendy spot is unknown. However, they have done little to dissuade the regulars or the newbies who visit the party hotspot.
Find the Milner Park Hotel and Kitchener’s Carvery Bar on the corner of Juta and De Beer streets, Braamfontein.
Details: www.kitcheners.co.za
