4Y4A4316
fort skanskop, pretoria
from wikipedia-
The three German forts[edit]
Fort Schanskop, Fort Wonderboompoort and Fort Klapperkop were designed by Von Dewitz and Werner of the German engineering company Krupp, assisted by architect Christiaan Kuntz and building contractor Celso Giri.
The three forts are pentagonal reinforced, with more fire range possibilities through numerous facets. Attacks from any direction could be warded off by revolving guns on their ramparts. To prevent infantry attacks, loopholes were built into the walls. Trenches, barbed-wire entanglements and fortified rooms were erected as reinforcements.
These forts were the most modern structures of their time and modern mediums of communication, such as telephones, were used to equip the telegraph room.
Many black labourers and about 400 white builders, mostly Italians, were involved in the building of these forts. To address technical aspects such as the electrical connections between forts, German and Dutch experts were consulted.
Fort Schanskop[edit]
Fort Schanskop
Pretoria, South Africa
GarrisonRijdende Artillerie, later Corps Vesting Artillerie[3]
Occupants31[2]
This fort was built at a cost of GBP £47,500. It was handed over to the government on 6 April 1897. It was supplied with a paraffin engine powered generator for electricity, electrical lighting and a search light. A telephone and telegraphic links were also installed. Water was supplied from a pump station in the Fountains Valley which was shared with the nearby Fort Klapperkop.
The garrison was initially armed with one officer and 30 men and was armed with 37 mm Maxim-Nordenfeldt cannon, Martini-Henry hand-cranked Maxim machine guns and a 155 mm Creusot gun (also known colloquially as a "Long Tom"). By October 1899, only 17 men were still stationed at the fort.
Both the garrison and the armaments were gradually reduced during the course of the Second Anglo-Boer war until there was only one man and no guns left over on 5 June 1900, the day on which British forces occupied Pretoria.[4] The fort was briefly occupied in 1993 by Willem Ratte to protest the multi-racial government of South Africa at the cost of Boer and Afrikaner heritage.[5]
The surrounding area currently includes a refurbished statue of Danie Theron which was originally erected at the Danie Theron Combat School in Kimberley. The statue was moved to its current location at Fort Schanskop and unveiled on 6 March 2002.
Also included on the premises is a scale model replica of the Trek Monument that was inaugurated on 16 December 1954 in Tanzania (Formerly known as Tanganyika).
Fort Schanskop is a Gauteng Provincial Heritage Site and a provincial heritage site.[6]
4Y4A4316
fort skanskop, pretoria
from wikipedia-
The three German forts[edit]
Fort Schanskop, Fort Wonderboompoort and Fort Klapperkop were designed by Von Dewitz and Werner of the German engineering company Krupp, assisted by architect Christiaan Kuntz and building contractor Celso Giri.
The three forts are pentagonal reinforced, with more fire range possibilities through numerous facets. Attacks from any direction could be warded off by revolving guns on their ramparts. To prevent infantry attacks, loopholes were built into the walls. Trenches, barbed-wire entanglements and fortified rooms were erected as reinforcements.
These forts were the most modern structures of their time and modern mediums of communication, such as telephones, were used to equip the telegraph room.
Many black labourers and about 400 white builders, mostly Italians, were involved in the building of these forts. To address technical aspects such as the electrical connections between forts, German and Dutch experts were consulted.
Fort Schanskop[edit]
Fort Schanskop
Pretoria, South Africa
GarrisonRijdende Artillerie, later Corps Vesting Artillerie[3]
Occupants31[2]
This fort was built at a cost of GBP £47,500. It was handed over to the government on 6 April 1897. It was supplied with a paraffin engine powered generator for electricity, electrical lighting and a search light. A telephone and telegraphic links were also installed. Water was supplied from a pump station in the Fountains Valley which was shared with the nearby Fort Klapperkop.
The garrison was initially armed with one officer and 30 men and was armed with 37 mm Maxim-Nordenfeldt cannon, Martini-Henry hand-cranked Maxim machine guns and a 155 mm Creusot gun (also known colloquially as a "Long Tom"). By October 1899, only 17 men were still stationed at the fort.
Both the garrison and the armaments were gradually reduced during the course of the Second Anglo-Boer war until there was only one man and no guns left over on 5 June 1900, the day on which British forces occupied Pretoria.[4] The fort was briefly occupied in 1993 by Willem Ratte to protest the multi-racial government of South Africa at the cost of Boer and Afrikaner heritage.[5]
The surrounding area currently includes a refurbished statue of Danie Theron which was originally erected at the Danie Theron Combat School in Kimberley. The statue was moved to its current location at Fort Schanskop and unveiled on 6 March 2002.
Also included on the premises is a scale model replica of the Trek Monument that was inaugurated on 16 December 1954 in Tanzania (Formerly known as Tanganyika).
Fort Schanskop is a Gauteng Provincial Heritage Site and a provincial heritage site.[6]