Alexander Merensky
Encyclopedia
Life
Alexander was orphaned early in life and grew up among relatives. In 1855, he entered the mission seminary of the Berlin Missionary SocietyBerlin Missionary Society
The Berlin Missionary Society or Society for the Advancement of evangelistic Missions amongst the Heathen was a German Protestant Christian missionary society that was constituted on 29 February 1824 by a group of pious laymen from the...
and was sent out on 23 November 1858. Together with a fellow missionary, Karl-Heinrich Theodor Grützner, he travelled by sailboat from Amsterdam to Cape Town and on to Natal.
On 14 August 1860, he co-founded the mission station Gerlachshoop, the first mission station of the Berlin Missionary Society north of the Vaal River, together with Grützner. Merensky was ordained as missionary in Gerlachshoop on 11 January 1861. A further mission station, Kchalathlolu, was dedicated in August 1861. On 15 October 1863 Merensky was married to Marie Liers from Breslau. Seven children were born to this union, among them as fourth child Hans Merensky
Hans Merensky
Hans Merensky was a German South African geologist, prospector, scientist, conservationist and philanthropist...
. They lived in Kchalatlolu until May 1864 and with the permission of Sekhukhune
Sekhukhune
Sekhukhune , was king of the Marota , in the current Mpumalanga province, Limpopo province, Gauteng province of South Africa. He became king upon his father's death in September 1861, and lived at a mountain, now known as Thaba Ya Sekhukhune, which he fortified.The Marota lived in the land between...
, the leader of the Bapedi, founded the mission station Ga-Ratau, approximately 15 km from the Bapedi capital. This station was dedicated in May 1864.
However, shortly thereafter the first persecutions of the Christians started, and Merensky had to flee with his family and congregation in the night of 23. November 1864 from Ga-Ratau. Merensky bought from own means in January 1865 a farm in the district of Middelburg
Middelburg, Mpumalanga
Middelburg is a large farming and industrial town in the South African province of Mpumalanga.Middelburg was established as Nasareth, , in 1864 by the Voortrekkers on the banks of the Klein Olifants River. The name was changed in 1872 to Middelburg to mark its situation midway between the Transvaal...
in the Transvaal Republic (ZAR)
South African Republic
The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...
. Together with Missionary Grützner he built the mission station Botshabelo
Botshabelo, Mpumalanga
Botshabelo in the district of Middelburg, in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, originated as a mission station established by Alexander Merensky of the Berlin Missionary Society , in February 1865 in what was then the Transvaal Republic...
- a Northern Sotho word for "place of refuge". On the hill overlooking Botshabelo, a fort was erected which Merensky called "Fort Wilhelm" in honour of the German kaiser; it in now known as Fort Merensky. During 1869 a blacksmith’s shop, a workshop to build and repair wagons and a mill were built, allowing nearby villagers and members of the congregation to learn these skills.
The British annexed the Transvaal Republic in 1876 and Sir Wolseley
Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley
Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, KP, GCB, OM, GCMG, VD, PC was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He served in Burma, the Crimean War, the Indian Mutiny, China, Canada, and widely throughout Africa—including his Ashanti campaign and the Nile Expedition...
made Botshabelo his headquarters in the Transvaal. During the First Anglo-Boer War
First Boer War
The First Boer War also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881-1877 annexation:...
, Merensky was conscripted to the Boer forces as military medic. He took part in the battles of Laing's Nek
Battle of Laing's Nek
The Battle of Laing's Nek was a major battle fought at Laing's Nek during the First Boer War on 28 January 1881.-Background:Following the Boer declaration of independence for the Transvaal in 1880 the British suffered a series of disastrous defeats in attempting to regain the territory.On 20...
, Skuinshoogte
Battle of Schuinshoogte
Battle of Schuinshoogte Also known as Ingogo, was a battle fought at on 8 February 1881 during the First Boer War. General Sir George Pomeroy Colley's communications with Newcastle were under constant harassment by mounted Boer patrols under Commander J D Weilbach after the Battle of Laing's Nek ...
and Majuba Hill
Battle of Majuba Hill
The Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881 was the main battle of the First Boer War. It was a resounding victory for the Boers. Major-General Sir George Pomeroy Colley occupied the summit of the hill on the night of February 26–27, 1881. His motive for occupying the hill remains unclear...
and described the battles viewed from afar from his field hospital. After the end of the war, he was mistrusted by both the British and Boer authorities and decided to move back to Germany with is family. In 1883 he was promoted to Inspector of the Berlin Missionary Society.
In 1890 he travelled to the northern shore of Lake Njassa (now known as Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi , is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania...
in Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
) in the area called Kondeland. Here he founded two further mission stations, Wangemannshöhe and Manow. Being interested in geography, he later also published a map of this area. On his way back to Germany he had another opportunity to visit Botshabelo.
He received honorary doctorates from universities in Berlin and Heidelberg for his scientific publications. Merensky died in Berlin and was buried in the cemetery of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
The Protestant Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is located in Berlin on the Kurfürstendamm in the centre of the Breitscheidplatz. The original church on the site was built in the 1890s. It was badly damaged in a bombing raid in 1943...
in Berlin.