History of Paarl
The Story of Pearls & Wine
The area that is now known as Paarl was first inhabited by the Khoikhoi and San people. The Peninsular Khoikhoi people and the Cochoquapeople lived in this area divided by the Berg River Valley. The Cochaqua were cattle heading people and among the richest of the Khoi tribes. They had between 16,000-18,000 members and originally called Paarl Mountain, Tortoise Mountain.
The Dutch East India Company under the leadership of Jan van Riebeeck established meat trading relationships with the Khoikhoi people on the Table Bay coastline. In 1657, in search of new trading relationships inland, Abraham Gabemma saw a giant granite rock glistening in the sun after a rainstorm and named it “de Diamondt en de Peerlberg” (Diamond and Pearl Mountain) from which Paarl is derived. Gabemma (often also spelled Gabbema) was the Fiscal (public treasurer) for the settlement on the shores of Table Bay. The “diamonds” disappeared from the name and it became known simply as Pearl Rock or Pearl Mountain.
In 1687, Governor Simon van der Stel gave title to the first colonial farms in the area to “free burghers”. The following year, the French Huguenots arrived in the Western Cape and began to settle on farms in the area. The fertile soil and the Mediterranean-like climate of this region provided perfect conditions for farming. The settlers planted orchards, vegetable gardens and above all, vineyards. Thus began Paarl’s long and continuing history as a major wine and fruit producing area of South Africa.
The arrival of the European settlers brought on conflict with the Khoikhoi people, as land and water resources began to be contested and the Khoi traditions of communal land use came in conflict with the settler’s concept of private property. The Khoi peoples were defeated in local war and were further decimated by European diseases. The population scattered inland toward the Orange River or became laborers on settler farms.
Between 1658 and 1808 63 000 slaves were imported to South Africa from many different parts of the world such as Gambia, Nigeria, Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar, India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Indonesia, Batavia (Djakarta) and the Spice Islands.
In the human melting pot of the Cape it was inevitable that, from the original Dutch spoken by the first settlers, a colloquial form would be evolved by people such as the Khoikhoi and slaves from Malaya, Indonesia, Madagascar and West Africa.
These diverse peoples all needed to communicate and a modified version of Dutch, with many words from the other languages, was used as a language common to all. It developed further as Huguenot settlers added words and altered the sound of other words.
The struggle to gain recognition for Afrikaans as a written language was directed and carried out from Paarl. The Language Route centres on Dal Josaphat where a number of farms and buildings are to be found in which many of the events relating to the struggle for recognition of the language and the First Afrikaans Language Movement took place.
One such building is the Gedenk School der Hugenoten (Huguenot Commemorative School) on the farm Kleinbosch. This illustrates the role played by wine farmers (they were not all academics) in the Language Movement.
Another prominent building is the Gymnasium School in Main Street, founded in January 1858, with its intriguing Egyptian motifs on the facade. Arnoldus Pannevis was a Dutch teacher of classical languages at the school and formed the first institute for the new language – “Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners’.
The Guild of True Afrikaners (Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners) had its inaugural meeting in Huis Gideon Malherbe in Pastorie Str., named after the then owner who was a prominent farmer of that time.
The Afrikaans Language Museum is now situated in this building where one may view the first printing press used to produce Afrikaans publications such as “Die Patriot”.
The Afrikaans Language Monument was erected in 1975 to honour the Afrikaans Language.
The Monument’s design has specific meanings: Three linked columns symbolise the contribution of the Western world to Afrikaans, three rounded shapes represent the contribution of Africa, and a wall for the contribution of the Malaysian people. A fountain symbolizes new ideas and a pillar soaring 57 meters above the fountain represents the growth of the language.
The pillar is hollow, and light from above pours down it, illuminating the fountain. A second pillar represents the political development of South Africa and its close associations with the growth of Afrikaans.
Paarl is the third oldest European settlement in South Africa and has a population of over 150,000 which makes it the biggest town in the Cape Winelands District.
Like many towns in the Cape Winelands, Paarl is home to a prosperous community, with many well maintained and attractive Cape Dutch houses, beautiful gardens and streets lined with old oak trees.
Thanks to Wikipedia, Paarlonline & Places.co.za