Property

Historic 134-year-old South African museum abandoned and completely empty

Kirsten Minnaar • 24 February 2026

The former site of the Nature and Culture History Museum in Pretoria, once a key national cultural and historical institution, now stands abandoned.

Situated on Boom Street in the grounds of the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria’s CBD, this museum was known as the Staatsmuseum (State Museum).

With a history dating back over 130 years, the once-revered museum has been abandoned and left to fall into disrepair.

The establishment of the State Museum in 1892 was initiated by South Africa’s State Secretary, Dr W. J. Leyds, whom the State Museum’s board regarded as “the Father of the State Museum”.

The idea behind the museum was to establish a true museum with a national collection of natural and manufactured products, as well as art and antiques from South Africa and other countries.

Initially, the museum was biased towards cultural artefacts, but the focus soon shifted towards national history.

It was first housed in a small room, the Museum Room, next to the clock tower on the top floor of the ‘Raadsaal’ on church square.

In 1894, when that room became too small and too inaccessible to visitors, the government relocated the museum to a small building at the Pretoria fresh-produce market, now Sammy Marks Square in Van der Walt Street.

However, it was not long before the market building also became too small to house the rapidly growing collections.

In December 1898, after several attempts to build a new, ‘proper’ museum building, tenders were released for a building on Boom Street, at the point where Andries Street intersects.

The cornerstone of the new building was laid in July 1899. The Second Anglo-Boer War broke out on 11 October 1899, interrupting construction. When the British invaded Pretoria on 5 June 1900, the museum had reached roof height.

The museum was closed until 8 June 1900, when it reopened as the Pretoria Museum, later renamed the Transvaal Museum. The museum building was finally completed in December 1904.

From jewel to junk

Dr Nicolaas Mansvelt lays the foundation stone of the State Museum, Pretoria, 22 July 1899.

On 20 January 1902, after the war, the British colonial government awarded a contract to the same builder who had built the museum before the war to complete the building. Dr Gunning stayed on as director until his death in 1913.

By 1930, the museum exhibited significant historical, ethnographic and archaeological collections. Most of these collections were donated, and, traditionally, the donor’s name would be part of the exhibition.

Several spectacular collections were displayed. The Louis Botha collection, dating back to 1922, is among the most significant additions to the history section’s holdings.

In 1952, the museum housed a complete ‘Voortrekker’ cultural history exhibition and facilitated a Van Riebeeck Festival.

An Anglo-Boer War collection was added in 1972, and the National Cultural History Museum celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 1989. However, the museum was abandoned as the head office and closed down in 1991.

The displays in the eastern wing were severely damaged after a pipe burst that year. Another pipe burst in July 1992 caused irreparable damage to the museum, which had to be closed to the public.

Traces of the old collections and exhibition cabinets can be found in the abandoned old Museum, which has been declared a National Monument.

Today, the former museum site still stands abandoned. However, the legacy of the original State Museum lives on under the name Ditsong Museums of South Africa.

The institution has grown into a network of eight distinct museums, seven of which remain located in Tshwane.