Christmas Day in the oldest church in Kimberley

The German Lutheran Church is the oldest church in the town. Build in 1875. It was brought all the way from Port Elizabeth on an ox wagon.

Reverend Meyer wrote that Christmas Day was taken up with services in the compound and in Brother Windisch’s church in Beaconsfield.

“In the evening we celebrated the beautiful Christmas liturgy in our German Church. There were the biblical prophecies recited by the children, the reading of the Christmas story and the hymns of Zacharias and Maria in front of the altar (done by three boys and two girls). As I had never had time for a nap this afternoon I got so exhausted by the 12 services that I could not sleep at all that night.”

The first service was on 31 October 1875 and the last on 3 February 1963. The first minister was the Reverend Carl Meyer. The church was donated to the mine museum in 1964

The church is still sometimes used for weddings.

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