Friemersheim

Friemersheim is a settlement in Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

Friemersheim
Friemersheim Show map of Western Cape Friemersheim Show map of South Africa
Coordinates: 33°57′19″S 22°08′33″E
Country	South Africa
Province	Western Cape
District	Garden Route
Municipality	Mossel Bay
Area [1]
• Total	2.33 km2 (0.90 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	1,235
• Density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011) [1]
• Black African	0.6%
• Coloured	94.3%
• Indian/Asian	0.4%
• White	2.4%
• Other	2.2%
First languages (2011) [1]
• Afrikaans	97.7%
• Other	2.3%
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Postal code (street)	6525
PO box	6526

A small agricultural community about 15 km from Groot-Brakrivier, Friemersheim was founded by a German missionary in the early nineteenth century.[2] In 1869, through the efforts of Reverend Johann Kretzen of the Berliner Missionary Society, a school and church were built on the farm Gonnakraal, which Kretzen had bought for his sister.[2]

After his sister's death in 1872, he bequeathed the farm to the Dutch Reformed Missionary Society, and later it was renamed Friemersheim, after Kretzen's town of birth in Germany.[3] It remained in the ownership of the Dutch Reformed Church until the 1960s, when it was sold to the state.[2]