The ATKV-Hartenbos Museum of the Great Trek

This Museum examines the lives of the Voortrekkers – the Boers (Dutch: farmers) who left the Cape Colony en mass in 1838, and trekked northwards in search of land away from Colonial rule. The Museum also commemorates the Symbolic Ox Wagon Trek of 1938 – the re-enactment of the original event that took place in its centenary year – and the history of the popular holiday resort of Hartenbos.

The Museum houses ox wagons, weapons, household implements, clothing, and other historic artefacts – many of which were donated during the Symbolic Trek. The displays are divided into ten halls depicting various aspects of the theme:

• Preparing for the Great Trek;
• Outspan (camping and relaxing) at the end of a day`s journey:
• Repairing the ox wagons;
• Building a laager (the traditional camp in which the wagons were drawn onto a circle for protection against attack);
• How the Boers relaxed during the Great Trek;
• Daily activities (baking bread, candle making);
• Settling in after the journey (featuring family worship in a Boer homestead); and
• The Voortrekkers’ Freedom struggle.

Two of the halls are devoted to the Symbolic Ox Wagon Trek of 1938 and the History of Hartenbos.

• Kaap De Goede Hoop Laan
• Hartenbos
• Tel: +2744-601 7243
• Fax: +2744-695 0770
• E-mail: hartenbos@atkv.org.za
• Homepage: www.hartenbos.co.za

Latitude    34° 7’28.34″S
Longitude   22° 6’46.59″E

Download a pdf booklet on the Museums of Mossel Bay here.

Tags: ATKV, great trek, groot trek, hartenbos, mossel bay, mosselbaai, museum