Moederkerk translates to "mother church" in Afrikaans. It began as a very small church in the early 1700s, until a fire burned it down to its foundations. The pastor and his congregation raised enough money to rebuild it in 1723, but there were so many people joining the congregation that eventually he decided to add other sections to the building to accommodate the new members. In 1860, a German architect named Carl Otto Hager was commissioned to enlarge the building yet again. The congregants needed more money for the changes, so they held a bazaar to raise money by selling livestock and wine. The bazaar was very successful and the congregation completed the church in 1863.
Ou Hoofgebou means "old main building" in Afrikaans. It was built in 1879 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the founding of Stellenbosch. Although they were first going to build a town hall, the people of Stellenbosch eventually decided to build a college building, because education was important to them. It was designed by Carl Otto Hager, the same architect who designed the Moederkerk.
The Theological Seminary was built in 1687, but wasn't used as such until 1859. Before then, the building had been used for formal social gatherings and for housing foreign and visiting dignitaries. It was also used as a court of law. The Theological Seminary has withstood two brutal fires and a powerful flood since its construction and was last remodeled in the early 20th century. The decor and furnishings have remained the same ever since. Its use as a church seminary was the beginning of higher education in Stellenbosch in 1859.
The Stellenbosch Village Museum is actually composed of four different historical homes: Schreuderhuis, Blettermanhuis, Grosvenor House and Om Bergh. They were all constructed between 1709 amd 1850. Schreuderhuis was built in 1709 by Sebastian Schreuder, a Saxon soldier employed by the Dutch East India Company. Blettermanhuis was built in 1789 and it was the home of a wealthy magistrate named Hendrik Bletterman; after he died, the building was used for government offices. Grosvenor House was built in 1782 and is a classic example of a patrician home near the turn of the century. Om Bergh was named after the Swede that first lived there with his family in 1832 (Olof Marthinus Bergh), and all of its furnishings and decor have remained the same since then.
