Pietermaritzburg

Home > Places > Africa > South African Political Geography

Pietermaritzburg , city (1991 pop. 228,549), cocapital (with Ulundi ) of KwaZulu-Natal, E South Africa, in the foothills of the Drakensberg Range. The city is an administrative and industrial center. Its products include wattle bark extract, furniture, footwear, chocolate, and cloth. Motor vehicles are assembled in the city, and iron ore is mined nearby. Pietermaritzburg was founded in 1838 and named for Piet Retief and Gert Maritz, Boer (Afrikaner) leaders of the Great Trek (see Trek, Great ). The Boers made it capital of the short-lived (1839–43) Voortrekker Republic of Natal. The city became capital of Natal when the province was annexed by Great Britain in 1843. In 1880 a railroad to Durban was opened. Pietermaritzburg is the seat of the Univ. of Natal (1909), a technical college, Natal Museum, and Tatham Art Gallery. Points of interest include the Church of the Vow (1839), built to commemorate the 1838 Boer victory over Zulu forces; Fort Napier, erected by the British in 1843; and the Provincial Council Buildings. Natal Lion Park is nearby. The city's name is sometimes shortened to Maritzburg

Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu‐Natal/South Africa uMgungundlovu, Pietermauritzburg The Zulu paramount chief Dingane built a new capital c.1828 which he called uMgungundlovu ‘Secret Place of the Elephant’. The modern city was founded by Boer Voortrekkers ‘Pioneers’ in 1838 after victory over the Zulus at Blood (now Ncome) River. It originated as a small stone church, a thanksgiving for the victory. A town developed around the church and this was called Pietermauritzburg after the Boers' leader, Pieter Mauritz Retief (1780–1838), who was killed on Dingane's orders while accepting his hospitality. In time the u was dropped and, at the time of the city's centenary in 1938, it was decided also to honour Gerrit Maritz (1798–1838), the leader of the second Boer trek into Natal. It remained the Boer capital only until 1843, the British having annexed the Republic of Natal the previous year. The city is generally known as Maritzburg.