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The Hermannsburg Mission was established in the mid-19th century in the small town of Hermannsburg in Germany by a Lutheran pastor, Ludwig ‘Louis’ Harms. Young men were trained as missionaries. The first group was sent out in 1854 but was refused entry to the East Coast of Africa by the Muslims who controlled the coast. Disappointed they returned to Durban and decided to work with the Zulu people. They established their headquarters north of Pietermaritzburg and called it Hermannsburg. They worked amongst the Zulu people but were soon invited by the Transvaal Republic to also work with the Tswana people.  

 

Africa Calling is a comprehensive book on the history and dedication of the Hermannsburg Mission and its descendants in South Africa. It is the life stories of these people who had answered the call to bring Christianity to the people of Africa. This book is the stories of faith, dedication, hardship and endurance of the Lutheran Germans and their adaptation to a new life in Africa – their new homeland. The Germans lived together with the Boers as pioneers in Natal and Transvaal. They made a great contribution to education and built schools and trained teachers. In the Transvaal, they helped numerous Tswana tribes to obtain land. Most of them became farmers.  

 

Dr. Udo S. Küsel was born in Paulpietersburg to German parents.  He worked at the City Council of Pretoria and studied part time at the University of Pretoria where he obtained a BA degree majoring in Anthropology, Archaeology and Indigenous Law. He holds a Masters degree in Archaeology and a D.Phil. in Cultural History. He worked as an Archaeologist at the National Museum in Bloemfontein and the Cultural History Museum in Pretoria. He established his own company African Heritage Consultants cc.

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