Bloemfontein (South Africa): Astrological Article and Chart

About this event

Bloemfontein, also known as Bloem, is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals (the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital) and is the seventh largest city in South Africa. Situated at an elevation of 1,395 m (4,577 ft) above sea level, the city is home to approximately 520,000 residents and forms part of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality which has a population of 747,431. It was one of the host cities for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

The city of Bloemfontein hosts the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, the Franklin Game Reserve, Naval Hill, the Maselspoort Resort and the Sand du Plessis Theatre. The city hosts numerous museums, including the National Women's Monument, the Anglo-Boer War Museum, the National Museum, and the Oliewenhuis Art Museum. Bloemfontein also host sub-Saharan Africa's first digital planetarium, the Naval Hill Planetarium and Boyden Observatory, an astronomical research observatory erected by Harvard University.

Bloemfontein is popularly and poetically known as "the city of roses", for its abundance of these flowers and the annual rose festival held there. The city's Sesotho name is Mangaung, meaning "place of cheetahs". Its !Orakobab name is ǀʼAuxa ǃXās or ǀKxʼauxa ǃXās (Khoekhoegowab spelling: ǀAuxa !Khās), which refers to Jan Bloem II, known as !Xās-aob or Blumtseb who was a gaokxʼaob di kx'amkx'aob (chief's right hand) of the ǀŪdiǁʼais (Springbok Clan) of the !Ora ("Korana") nation, whose kraal was the original settlement before the city was built.

History

The origin of the city's name is disputed. It has been assumed to be from the Dutch words bloem (flower) and fontein (fountain), meaning fountain of flowers. Popular colonial legends include an ox named "Bloem" owned by Rudolphus Martinus Brits, one of the pioneer farmers that was taken by a lion near a fountain on his property, while the more likely indigenous history names Jan Bloem II (1775–1858), a !Ora ("Korana" Khoekhoe) leader who settled there.

His father, Jan Bloem, was a fugitive from the Cape Colony, where he reportedly was escaping arrest after murdering his first wife. Bloem was well known as an expert marksman, and married into the ǀHõaǁʼaes (Katz clan) and ǀŨdiǁʼaes where he played a role in training !Ora artillery fighters during the first !Ora Wars (a century prior to the second !Ora Wars) on the ǂNū!arib (Orange River) in the second half of the 18th century CE. His son was born in 1775 into the Springbok Clan (ǀŨdiǁʼaes), later becoming the kapteijn or chief of this polity.

Early history
Though historically a !Orana settlement, and then a Boer settlement, Bloemfontein was officially founded in 1846 as a fort by British army major Henry Douglas Warden as a British outpost in the Transoranje region, at that stage occupied by various groups of peoples including !Orana (so-called "Korana" of the ǀHõaǁʼaes, ǀHũdiǁʼaes, Einiǁʼaes and others), Cape Colony Trek Boers, Griqua (at that time known as Baasters), and Barolong.

Warden originally chose the site largely because of its proximity to the main route to Winburg, the spacious open country, and the absence of horse sickness. Bloemfontein was the original farm of Johannes Nicolaas Brits born 21 February 1790, owner and first inhabitant of Bloemfontein. Johann – as he was known – sold the farm to Major Warden.

With colonial policy shifts, the region changed into the Orange River Sovereignty (1848–54) and eventually the Orange Free State Republic (1854–1902). From 1902 to 1910 it served as the capital of the Orange River Colony and since that time as the provincial capital of the Free State. In 1910 it became the Judicial capital of the Union of South Africa.