Contact Artefacts please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.	Menu Home Upfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon		Gereformeerde Kerk Potchefstroom, North West Johan DE RIDDER: Design Architect JOHAN DE RIDDER ARCHITECT: Architect

Date: 1959 Type: Gereformeerde Kerk - Church Status: Extant Street: 33 Walter Sisulu Avenue   Click to view map Coordinates: 26°42'21.29" S 27°05'50.95" E

Potchefstroom, once a country town, has a good church attendance which is greater at Nagmaal than on an ordinary Sunday, so this church was designed with a hall which, when necessary, could be combined with the main building. On the site there existed a small historical church, more than a hundred years old, where Paul Kruger was married for the second time. It was retained and linked to the new buildings by means of a covered way. Thus DE RIDDER's design was conditioned by such practical considerations as well as the ideals of the Church which he expressed in its symbolic elements. This is evident in the design of the tower which, like those of his other churches, is a significant architectural feature. At Potchefstroom it is in the form of a ladder, a symbol of the connection between God and His Church. The entrance, through the tower, is a reminder of the bond between man and God. (Greig, 1971: 187-8) This building was chosen as an exhibit at the Pretoria University School of Architecture 50 year Alumni exhibition held at the Pretoria Art Gallery. This church replaced the Gereformeerde Kerk built in 1896 designed by HC LUITINGH which was demolished once the congregation has moved over. Books that reference Gereformeerde Kerk Fisher, RC, Le Roux, SW & Maré, E (Eds). 1998. Architecture of the Transvaal. Pretoria: UNISA. pg 128, 175-196, 128, 175-196, 214, 215, 216 Greig, Doreen. 1971. A Guide to Architecture in South Africa. Cape Town: Howard Timmins. pg 187-8