August 17, 2018
Hermanus History Society

Hermanus History Society honours Dr John Philip

Eight members of the Philip clan were among those who attended the informative talk by Prof John de Gruchy entitled Dr John Philip: A prophet before his time, hosted by the Hermanus History Society on 6 August. These descendants of Dr Philip include (from left) Ross Philip with his wife […]
August 14, 2018
hermanus history Society

Hermanus’ links to The Great Escape

One of the great pleasures of studying local history is that a single person or event can lead you on to another person or event and then to another and, suddenly, you have links in a chain that takes you far away from your original starting place, writes DR ROBIN […]
August 14, 2018
Hermanus History Society

Life and times of the Balcony Building

The Balcony Building (numbers T58 – 62 Main Road) is today mainly associated with the Hermanus Factory Shop, which was opened in this building in 1983 by a Swiss national, Jörg Friedrich who managed the business for 30 years. The present owner, Fransien Koegelenberg took over in 2013 and has […]
August 6, 2018
Hermanus History Society

Reasons for fires

Part 2 of 3: The Great Fires of Hermanus The territory now occupied by the Overstrand Municipality, including Hermanus, has experienced fire for millions of years. The first fires occurred for purely natural reasons, most often the result of lightning strikes. No human beings were around to witness the strikes, […]