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AnANTIC SOUTH AFRICA !liD/All
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CASTLE Of GOOO HOPE,
CA~TOWN

THE WILLIAM FEHR COLLEC TIO N
The castle houses the famous Wi IIi am Fehr
Collection of paintings, decorat1ve arts, and
furniture. Dr. Fehr ( 1 892-1968) was a local
businessman who started collecting colonial
pictures and objects at a time when the
practice was unusual. H1s collection now forms
an invaluable record of many aspects of social
and political life 1n the Cape, from the early
days of the Dutch East lnd1a Company (VOC
in Dutch) to the end of the 19th century. In
addition to landscape pa1nt1ngs by the English
artists Thomas Ba1nes and W1lham Hugg1ns,
there is 17th-century Japanese porcelain and
18th-century IndoneSian ft.rn1ture
i

COMMANDER JAN VAN RIEBEECK
In Apni16S2, the Dutchman Jan van ~ebeedc
arnved at the Cape wrth about 80 men and
women to establish a stagng post for the
Dutch East lnd1a Company Th1s was needed to
provision the Dutch sh1ps ply1ng the lucratiVe
trade route between Europe and As1a. Despite
setbacks (2 0 men died dunng that f1rst Winter),
the station eventually flounshed and began to
provide ships with meat milk, and vegetables.
However, rivalry with the indigenous Khoina
people over water and grazing soon turned
into open hostility and bitter wars followed.

THE CASTLE
The design of the castle was influenced by the
work of the French m11itary engineer Vauban,
who was employed at the court of K1ng Louis
XIV Pentagonal In shape, 1t has f1ve defensive
bastions from which the outSide walls could be
defended by cross-fire The original entrance
faced the sea, but 1t was moved torts present
poSition in 1684 From the begnnng, the
castle was mtended as a base for the Dutch
East lnd1a Company 1n the Cape. Over the
years, butldmgs were erected InSide the court-
yard, and a defensive 39-ft (12-m) h1gh imer
wall was built across 1t Today, th1s area is the
site of the Willi am Fehr C ollect1on The castle
also housed facilities to support a community,
with living quarters, a church, a bakery, offices,
and a jail with a torture chamber. In the 1930s,
a new banqueting hall was created from a
series of rooms on an upper floor.