Transvaal Museum

Ditsong National Museum of Natural History
"Transvaal Museum"

Facade of the museum building.
Location within Gauteng
Established 1 December 1892
Location Pretoria, Gauteng,  South Africa
Coordinates 25°45′12″S 28°11′20″E / 25.75325°S 28.18899°E / -25.75325; 28.18899
Type Natural history
Founder J. W. B. Gunning
Public transit access A Re Yeng Bus route F5
Website http://www.ditsong.org.za/

The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, colloquially the Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa. The museum was established by the former South African Republic also known as the Transvaal in 1895. The museum curates large collections of Plio-Pleistocene fossils, including hominids from Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai in the UNESCO World Heritage Site; the Cradle of Humankind, as well as late Permian therapsids (proto-mammals from the Karoo). The most complete skull of an Australopithecus africanus specimen, Mrs Ples, is on display in the museum. In addition, the Transvaal museum houses extensive collections of mammals, birds, reptiles, and invertebrates. The museum is located on Paul Kruger Street, between Visagie and Minnaar Streets, opposite the Pretoria City Hall. It is one of the founding Museums of Ditsong Museums of South Africa in 2010.

History

Staff of the Transvaal Museum in March 1909

It was founded as the Staatsmuseum (Afrikaans for "State Museum") of the ZAR on 1 December 1892, and J. W. B. Gunning was appointed as its first director. For the first two years after it was founded, the museum was located in the Ou Raadsaal parliament building.[1]

The Transvaal Museum was amalgamated with the Pretoria-based National Cultural History Museum (also called the African Window) and the South African National Museum of Military History (situated in Johannesburg) on 1 April 1999 to form the Northern Flagship Institution. The NFI was officially renamed Ditsong Museums of South Africa in April 2010. The Transvaal Museum was renamed Ditsong National Museum of Natural History on the same date. Ditsong is managed by a chief executive officer and a board, which replaced the three separate previous museum boards.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Transvaal Museum of Natural History.
  1. ↑ University of Pretoria
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