de Transvaalse Boer - Amsterdam, NL
Posted by: 
PetjeOp
N 52° 22.336 E 004° 53.243
31U E 628486 N 5804120
On the corner of the Gasthuismolensteeg you will find a small wooden statue of a Boer with his gun. It was placed around 1900 to honour the Boer who fought in the Second Boer War.
Waymark Code: WM16KGY
Location: Gelderland, Netherlands
Date Posted: 08/21/2022
Views: 6
When you walk through Amsterdam there are so many special and beautiful things to see, it is not surprising if you overlook something. Like this small wooden statue, on the corner of Heerengracht and Gasthuismolensteeg. High above your head you may not notice this statue at all, but it turns out to be special if you know the story behind it.
The statue caught my eye when I was walking through Amsterdam and I photographed it. After that, an internet search started what this statue represents.
The farmers in Amsterdam have been seen as heroes since the first peasant war. After all, many of these farmers had their roots in the Netherlands. The Dutch thought it was wonderful that they had won against the powerful British, with whom the Netherlands had often waged war.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Amsterdam was under the spell of the Boer War in South Africa.
An entire neighborhood in Amsterdam was even named after the war. The transvaal neighbourhood.
When the elderly Paul Kruger came to Amsterdam in December 1900, all of Amsterdam turned out to catch a glimpse of him.
The statue is said to have been inspired by the striking head of Paul Kruger himself.
"The Second Boer War was a war in South Africa between the independent states of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic against the British Empire, ultimately resulting in a British victory. During the war the Netherlands was largely pro-Boer, and some 2000 Dutch volunteers traveled to South Africa to fight for the two Boer republics. This support from the Dutch was due to the relationship between the Dutch and the Afrikaners (also called the Boers) who were mostly descended from the former Dutch colonists in South Africa.
During and after the Second Boer War a number of monuments were erected in the Netherlands to commemorate this war
In 1900 the building on Gasthuismolensteeg was renovated and the cigar shop De Transvaalsche Boer (The Transvaal Boer) was established there. A small statue of the Transvaal Boer by Johann Zeitz was also added there in commemoration of the war."
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