A Stellenbosch history guide

If you're visiting (or a new student), here are ten – historic – things to do in Stellenbosch

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1. Hike Simonsberg

Almost a century after the first Europeans had settled at the Cape, a man named Frans Diederik Muller made a startling announcement: he had found silver in Simonsberg, the iconic mountain that overlooks Stellenbosch. He alerted the Dutch East India Company, who shared his excitement, and after finding a financial partner in Olaf de Wet, a local businessman, he established the Octroojeerde Society der Mynwerken aan de Simonsberg in 1743.

As the appointed head miner – the bergmeester – Muller readied his team, comprising soldiers, sailors, and slaves, for the intensive labour of tunnelling into Simonsberg. But despite years of persistent ‘mining’, no precious metals were ever unearthed. Muller’s insistence on the presence of silver, and later copper and gold, led to an investigation that culminated in the revelation of his deceit when assays in Amsterdam showed the mined ore was worthless. Having backed the venture, the Dutch East India Company punished Muller for his fraud by exiling him to the colony of Batavia.

Today, there is a bergmeester of a different kind. Start your hike at Tokara at 6 am (park at the deli and walk along the road towards the mountain), and follow the path all the way to the top. It is not the easiest of hikes, but it is also not exclusively for advanced hikers. For fit hikers, expect up and down in less than 5 hours. The top, though, is worth the effort: a 360-degree view of Franschhoek, Stellenbosch, Jonkershoek, False Bay, Table Mountain, and Paarl. And the opportunity to call yourself the Master of the Mountain; indeed, the Bergmeester.

2. Walk the historic town

During the summer of 1803, slaves committed arson in the village. Everything started at the house of P Hartog when his wife admonished their slave, Patientie. By way of reprisal, Patientie and another slave, Julia, tried to set Hartog’s house alight in November of that year. For this offence, they stood trial in Cape Town. After conviction, they were brought back to Stellenbosch to be hanged in public – an event that caused great discontent among the slaves.

On the morning of 28 December, Jacub Kuuhl’s wagon builders’ shop and stable in Ryneveld Street were set alight. Another fire was started in CF Ackerman’s outbuilding on Dorp Street. Here, a slave climbed a tree and crawled along a high branch to set fire to the thatched roof of the outbuilding using burning pieces of woollen cloth. Fanned by a strong south-easter, a total of 42 homes and outbuildings burnt down during the course of the day, including the Stellenbosch and the tannery in Market Street.

That is why few buildings that remain standing in the historic part of Stellenbosch today – roughly, from the Dutch Reformed Church (Moederkerk) to Market Street – date from the eighteenth century. There are exceptions, though. Schreuderhuis, built in 1709, is the oldest restored and documented town house in the whole of South Africa. Two other eighteenth-century houses are Bletterman House, built in 1789, and Grosvenor House, originally built by Christian Ludolph Neethling in 1782. All three are now part of the Stellenbosch Village Museum and are worth a visit.

3. Buy a fruity breakfast

Phylloxera arrived at the Cape in the 1880s. By the 1890s, many farmers had given up and were forced to sell. In stepped Cecil John Rhodes, the then governor of the Cape, and purchased 29 farms in the Stellenbosch and Paarl districts for £250,000. In 1897, he established Rhodes’ Fruit Farms, Limited (formalised in 1902), transferred the farms to the firm and began planting about 200,000 deciduous fruit trees – pears, apricots, plums and peaches. One of these farms was Boschendal Wine Estate.

Vine Cultivation in the Gironde. Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), Vol. 1889, No. 33 (1889), p. 231

The idea was simple: grow and sell all kinds of fruit, vegetables, grain and flowers, ideally for export. This was made possible by the availability of a new technology: refrigeration. And with financial backers like Harry Pickstone, Alfred Beit and De Beers, and Leander Starr Jameson as chairman, Rhodes’Fruit Farms was well-set for success.

Today, Boschendal offers a fantastic selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, in addition to their meats, breads, and other delights. Visit on a Friday evening for the vibey market, book a breakfast table at the deli, walk through their (almost replanted) gardens, or indulge at the wonderful Werf restaurant.

Or, if you’re looking for other outstanding breakfast options, try Basic Bistro in Church Street, De Warenmarkt in Ryneveld Street, or De Blaauwe Kitchen at Blaauwklippen.

4. Explore Jonkershoek

Newspaper advertisements are rich contextual archives for the stories of enslaved, apprenticed and indentured labour at the Cape during the early nineteenth century. Although sightings of runaways occurred less frequently in Stellenbosch than in more densely populated areas such as Cape Town, the town still served as a hub from where many coerced labourers ran away. Based on research by former PhD student Karl Bergemann, around 16% of all advertisements that listed runaway locations in two of the Cape’s largest advertising platforms, the Zuid Afrikaan and the Government Gazette between 1830 and 1842 referenced Stellenbosch as the place of escape. This means that around 1 in every 6 runaways advertised on these platforms fled from here.

Adonis, a 50-year-old herdsman from Mozambique, was one of them. In February 1837, deep into the period of apprenticeship, a year and ten months before final emancipation, he fled from the farm Schoongezigt (modern-day Lanzerac) in search of a better life. Described as short and lean of stature, with one short leg and walking ‘lame’, Adonis’ master, AP Cloete, warned in the advert that those who would offer him shelter that they would be prosecuted if discovered. He made sure to mention that Adonis had lived and worked on the farm of Cornelis Brink in the Drakenstein area, warning readers that he likely knew the lay of the land around Stellenbosch well and to keep their eyes peeled. Being peak harvest season, there was a good chance Adonis could find ready employment in the surrounding districts, or he may have tried his luck further afield. Although the advertisement never stated how much was on offer, Cloete promised that anyone returning his apprentice to his farm or lodging him in prison would be handsomely rewarded.

We don’t know whether Adonis ever returned to Schoongezicht. But it is worth reflecting on his story when visiting the exquisite grounds of Lanzerac today – enjoying a wonderful selection of locally crafted delicacies on the Taphuis stoep that overlooks the former slave bell, for example – or, indeed, when exploring the many scenic trails of Jonkershoek. The luxury and beauty we enjoy now were built upon their immense hardships and dreams of freedom.

5. Experience campus culture

We have, you and I, some differences of view and opinion. But I have great respect for the fact that you have invited me here to speak, despite those differences. For the essential difference between free men and the subjects of totalitarianism is that free men can give voice and expression to their beliefs, and they can engage in a great dialogue on which the Western tradition has been built. So I am glad and I am proud to be here in Stellenbosch, at this town, at this university, and with all of you here today.

So said Robert F. Kennedy on his visit to Simonsberg, a Stellenbosch men’s residence, in 1966, two years before his assassination in the US. This excellent documentary tells the story of how and why his visit to South Africa also included a surprise visit to campus and its enduring impact on South African history.

Says the late Willem van Drimmelen, the 1966 Primarius of Simonsberg:

He made it possible for the students to feel that they are included in what is happening in the world, and not excluded as a result of apartheid policies.

Today, with its vibrant, international student life, Stellenbosch campus culture builds on this inclusive ethos, even as the shadows of the past sometimes, sadly, still linger.

Several events throughout the year would allow visitors to experience student life. At the start of the year, Vensters Street Theatre is one of the largest outdoor theatre events in South Africa, hosted by various university residences on campus. (It is this coming Friday.) Later in the semester, the International Office hosts an International Food Evening, with students from several dozen countries preparing their national dishes to share with visitors. The Woordfees, now held in October, is a highlight on the cultural calendar.

Or, if you’re keen on more serious academic activities, sign up for any of the many departmental talks, inaugural lectures or Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS) seminars. (The annual LEAP Lecture is a highlight on the academic calendar, too, and is scheduled for 1 August this year.)

6. Support local sport

Danie Craven was not only a legendary Springbok player and later coach but also a student of anthropology – or, as it was known in Stellenbosch at the time, ‘Volkekunde’. With a background in African languages and a rural upbringing, Craven was well-prepared to study ethnology, the comparative and analytical study of cultures. Successfully juggling rugby and academia, he earned his MA in 1933 with distinction and completed his PhD on the ethnological classification of Southern African Bantu speakers two years later, a feat so demanding he collapsed from exhaustion upon submission.

As Grundlingh and Grundlingh note in a 2021 paper, Craven put his knowledge of anthropology to good use as a rugby coach.¹ Craven was profoundly influenced, as I write here ($), by a rugby tour to New Zealand and his interaction with Māori culture, which underscored his belief in the importance of historical understanding in shaping sport. One of the things that Craven used to do, for example, was to trace the personal histories of each of his players.

Grundlingh and Grundlingh write about Craven’s methods:

He accumulated detailed genealogical charts of Springbok rugby players, and recorded statistics on their biographical details (see Images 1 and 2). There are over a hundred files on specific rugby players, in which he recorded their family lineage. He went about collecting family history data of players and sent out an information sheet requesting that family members of players provide information on their lineage. His office boasted a map of South Africa on which drawing pins were inserted to indicate the geographical areas where Springbok rugby players came from.

Craven’s deep reverence for history was evident in how he shaped the rugby program at Stellenbosch University, instilling a sense of continuity and respect for the past in his players. His approach to coaching was not just about tactics and skills, but also about understanding the historical context of rugby, its evolution, and its role in society.

To experience the importance of sport in Stellenbosch, attend a Varsity Cup game at the Danie Craven Stadium – Maties, as the team from Stellenbosch University is known, are five-time champions and perennial favourites. (Make sure to wear maroon!) Or, if rugby is not your thing, support Stellenbosch FC, the local soccer success story playing in the PSL, with their home also at the Danie Craven Stadium.

7. Bite a burger

In 2008, when doing research for a paper on the early Cape economy, I came across this remarkable passage in an unpublished monograph:²

It has been too commonly assumed that the farmers’ own complaints on their poverty and on the absence of markets reflected economic reality. As a matter of course, historians should consider such expressions of grievances to be special pleading, and they should therefore subject them, where possible, to independent testing. This we have done, and we consider that in general they cannot be corroborated, as is indeed not surprising when it is realised that they were made sporadically. The Cape farmers, like all entrepreneurs at all times, did not believe that they were operating in the best possible economic climate, and therefore did all they could to improve that climate. But, in the circumstances within which they did have to act, as a body they found reason to expand and opportunity to flourish.

The general sentiment at the time in Cape historiography was that most settlers were surviving just above subsistence. Pockets of wealth existed close to Cape Town, especially amongst those farmers privileged to obtain the monopoly contracts sold by the Company, but elsewhere, farmers could do little more than eke out a living in the harsh environment of the frontier, or so it was said. Yet this passage pointed to an entirely different history, one of wealth and progress.

I had found a PhD topic.

Equipped with little more than a few datasets, I began to investigate. I used probate inventories – lists of assets when people die – to show the remarkable wealth of eighteenth-century Cape burghers, or free burghers.³ In more recent work with an American scholar, we use tax censuses to show that Cape farmers were even more affluent than their eighteenth-century American counterparts.⁴

Not all were equally wealthy, of course. As I explained in a recent post ($), the inequality gave rise to what historians have called the Cape Gentry. There has been much debate about who exactly this ‘Gentry’ was. The standard view is that they were a rural elite who often collaborated with local town merchants but whose power was primarily based on agriculture. Owning land and enslaved people allowed these burghers to wield considerable economic power and influence. One interesting finding is that, while initially, this wealth was concentrated in wheat and especially wine production, towards the end of the century, the wealthiest tended to be cattle farmers.

Today, you’ll find a different kind of burger in town. Visit De Vrije Burger and Bennie Griesel special (a shoutout to Stellenbosch’s favourite author, Deon Meyer). Or Stellenbosch Kitchen’s monstrous Monster Burger. Or, my favourite, a Stud burger and chips in Plein Street. Those wealthy eighteenth-century cattle farmers would have been proud.

8. Behold a boulder

Louis Albert Péringuey, born in Bordeaux, France, in 1855, initially embarked on a career as an entomologist specialising in beetles before his interests led him to archaeology and ultimately to his role as the Director of the South African Museum in Cape Town. His tenure at the museum, beginning in 1906 until his death in 1924, was marked by significant contributions to entomology and archaeology, including authoring various scientific papers on new insect taxa and Stone Age sites in South Africa.

In 1911, he published a provocative report – The Stone Ages of South Africa. In it, he revealed a startling discovery at the foot of Papegaaiberg: layers of fractured, water-worn boulders, spalls, and nuclei deposited on a granite foundation or, in other words, bifacially flaked handaxes hundreds of thousands of years old. He named it the ‘Stellenbosch Culture’, although the term was later replaced by Acheulian Culture to conform to international usage.

Since Péringuey’s revelation, archaeological research has validated his observations, dating them to the Earlier Stone Age, or Lower Paleolithic in European terminology, from about 1.2 million to 250,000 years ago. These handaxes and cleavers have been discovered across various vineyards in the valleys of the Eerste, Berg, Breede, and Olifants Rivers in the south-western Cape and similar locales across Africa, southern Europe, the Near East, and India. They were versatile tools for various tasks, including skinning and cutting meat, breaking bones for marrow, digging up roots, and woodworking.

Today, almost all archaeological traces of hunters and herders (like the later Khoe that also inhabited the valley) have disappeared due to centuries of intensive farming and development on their sites. But the site of Péringuey’s discovery can still be seen as you drive into Stellenbosch on Adam Tas Road. Two large boulders on the grass embankment left of the road mark the spot.

To get a closer look, turn off on Oude Libertas Road, and then turn right into Distillery Road. Bosman’s Crossing has an eclectic mix of wineries, many of whom produce Bordeaux-style blends that would have made Péringuey proud. But for a true taste of the Mediterranean, visit Dalla Cia’s Pan E Vino for lunch, where each meal is a testament to the versatility of those primitive tools that once shaped the very course of human sustenance.

9. Bask in the flavours of brandy

During the early-eighteenth-century governorship of Willem Adriaan van der Stel, a significant surplus of wine made many farmers eager to shift to brandy production as a potential solution. Van der Stel, recognising the profitability of this venture, particularly at his own farm Vergelegen, encouraged local farmers to start producing brandy, saying: ‘het branden der wijnen tot goden Brandewijnen’ (burn the wines to make divine Brandies).⁵

The Lords Seventeen, the governing body of the Dutch East India Company, was, however, reluctant to establish a large-scale brandy distilling industry in the Cape. Their main concern was the potential competition this industry could create with European brandy producers. They were also hesitant to take on the burden of additional taxes associated with Cape brandy. This decision had a significant impact locally, leading to a situation in 1714 where brandy production in the Stellenbosch district caused more benefit to individual farmers than to the Company, disrupting the VOC’s control of the Cape economy.

But despite the Lords Seventeen’s reluctance, brandy production at the Cape became more prominent. Individual farmers, like Jan Bothma, were finally permitted to sell their brandy, although the Dutch East India Company maintained control over its distribution through its officials in Stellenbosch and Drakenstein.

Today, local distillers are at the forefront of global trends. Visit Van Ryn’s Distillery to experience exceptional brandy tasting, pairing aged brandies with unique chocolates and delights, from Espresso chocolate with the 12-year-old Old Brandy to the Orange and Caramel cluster accompanying the 20-year-old. From a contentious beginning to a celebrated craft, Cape brandy offers a taste of history in every sip.

10. Arbitrage over coffee

From 1836 to 1841, the Cape Colony experienced a remarkable surge in both imports and exports. Historians attributed this surge to the financial compensation slaveholders had received at emancipation. Yet, in a 2020 paper, historian David Bijsterbosch and I came to a different, more intriguing conclusion: a tax loophole in the coffee trade made it possible for producers outside the British Empire to avoid high tariffs for imports into Great Britain by sending their coffee exports via the Cape.⁶ This loophole, allowing for more affordable imports from regions like Java and Rio de Janeiro, temporarily redefined the Cape’s role in international trade. Sadly, this economic boom was ephemeral, as legislative amendments in the British tax code in the early 1840s closed this loophole, curtailing the Cape Colony’s advantage. The narrative of coffee in the Cape Colony during this era is a tale of economic opportunism and global interconnectedness.

Visit any of the dozens of coffee shops that dot the town, and you’ll get a renewed sense of the economic opportunism and global interconnectedness that characterises the Cape economy today. These coffee shops, with their diverse blends, reflect not only the Cape’s historical legacy of being a nexus of international trade routes but also its ongoing culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, where the worlds of academia and business meet, turning scholarly ideas into commercial ventures.

It’s unfair only to mention three, but my favourites are Platō Coffee in Krige Street, Deluxe Coffeeworks in Aan-de-Wagenweg, and Mood in Ryneveld Street.

11. Coming soon! Meet the blacksmith of Babylonstoren

In 1762, upon the death of the widower Johannes Louw, his estate was inherited by his six children: Jacobus (unknown), Maria (already married to Isaacq de Villiers), Hendrik (21), Willem (18), Johannes (13), and Adriaan (10). Fortunately, Louw was a prosperous farmer. His estate included six properties located in the Drakenstein and Stellenbosch districts: Cuijlenborg, De Voorsorgh, De Dassenboschrivier, De Groote Vlakte, De Drie Kuijlen, and the one he treasured above all, Babilonische Toorn.

His probate (MOOC8/11.20) offers a detailed list of all the assets at Babylonstoren. In the room on the right as you enter the family home, ‘1 Engelsche comptoir met eenige medicamenten daarop’ (an English counter with some medicines on it), for example. In the room on the left, ‘1 huijs Bijbel’, ‘2 Handbijbeltjes met silver beslag’, and ‘1 schrijflaadje’, to name only three of the many items. The house included the two rooms, a ‘voorhuijs’ (front room), a bottlery (including 2 Japenese milk kettles, 4 ‘worsthoorntjes’ and 2 Siamese butter pots), a kitchen, and an attic. The werf also included a school (with two desks), a store room, a shop, a cellar (with a large wine collection), stable (with thirteen horses) and various other items, including a brandy still and 91 oxen.

Today, Babylonstoren is a world-class wine estate. Like in the eighteenth century, the werf offers many attractions, including an impressive wine museum. Visitors to the museum are greeted by a giant, vine-inspired sculpture leading into a two-storey space, symbolising the origins of wine. The exhibits feature unique elements like an antique corkscrew collection, soil breakdowns for different wines, and a bottle of Constantia dessert wine made in 1821.

But coming later in 2024, Babylonstoren will enveil another attraction: a nineteenth-century farm museum. The water mill is already completed and has ground its first wheat. When it opens, a blacksmith will demonstrate his trade seven days a week. And expect much more.

The Babylonstoren of Johannes Louw did not have a blacksmith, but his neighbouring farm, Cuijlenborg, did. The image above shows the items found in it: anvils, iron bellows, scores, spades, crowbars, shovels, bars, and saws. History is indeed forged through the creativity and resilience of countless generations.

‘A Stellenbosch history guide’ was first published on Our Long Walk. This guide benefited from valuable background research and inputs by Karl Bergemann and Karen Jennings, as well as financial support from the Chair in Economics, History and Policy at LEAP. Support more such writing by signing up for a paid subscription. The image was created with Midjourney v6. Prompt: The most exquisite wine bottle, made of solid silver, packaged in a beautiful Yellowwood case intricately carved with motifs of the Cape Dutch architecture and local vineyard landscapes. Embossed with patterns inspired by the unique flora of the Cape Winelands. Purple grapes, fynbos, and proteas add to the opulence of the image.

1. Grundlingh, M. and Grundlingh, A., 2021. “Volkekunde” in the academic and rugby world of South Africa’s Dr Danie Craven.

2. Van Duin, P. and Ross, R. 1987. Economy of the Cape Colony in the 18th Century.

3. Fourie, J., 2013. The remarkable wealth of the Dutch Cape Colony: measurements from eighteenth‐century probate inventories. The Economic History Review, 66(2), pp.419-448.

4. Fourie, J. and Garmon Jr, F., 2023. The settlers’ fortunes: Comparing tax censuses in the Cape Colony and early American republic. The Economic History Review, 76(2), pp.525-550.

5. WCARS, C 1435 (old no. C 508). Letters Despatched, 28 March 1705, p. 483

6. Bijsterbosch, D. and Fourie, J., 2020. Coffee, Slavery and a Tax Loophole: Explaining the Cape Colony’s Trading Boom, 1834–1841. South African Historical Journal, 72(1), pp.125-147.