View source for Dullstroom

{{primary sources|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Dullstroom
| other_name              = Dullstroom Emnothweni
| nickname                = Dullies<ref>Lowveld living, issue 57, Winter 2016, p.64</ref>
| image_skyline           = Pêche à la mouche à Dullstroom.JPG
| image_caption           = Fly-fishing at the Dullstroom dam and nature reserve
| pushpin_map             = South Africa Mpumalanga#South Africa
| coordinates             = {{coord|25|25|S|30|7|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type        = Country
| subdivision_name        = [[South Africa]]
| subdivision_type1       = Province
| subdivision_name1       = [[Mpumalanga]]
| subdivision_type2       = District
| subdivision_name2       = [[Nkangala District Municipality|Nkangala]]
| subdivision_type3       = Municipality
| subdivision_name3       = [[Emakhazeni Local Municipality|Emakhazeni]]
| subdivision_type4       = Main Place
| established_title       = Established
| established_date        = 1883
| leader_title            = Councillor
| area_footnotes          = <ref name="census2011">{{cite web |url=http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/870002 |title=Main Place Dullstroom |work=Census 2011 |access-date=2020-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219130044/https://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/870002 |archive-date=2019-02-19 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| area_total_km2          = 30.40
| elevation_m             = 2100
| population_footnotes    = <ref name="census2011" />
| population_total        = 558
| population_as_of        = 2011
| population_density_km2  = auto
<!-- demographics (section 1) -->
| demographics_type1      = Racial makeup (2011)
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" />
| demographics1_title1    = [[Bantu peoples of South Africa|Black African]]
| demographics1_info1     = 8.1%
| demographics1_title2    = [[Coloureds|Coloured]]
| demographics1_info2     = 
| demographics1_title3    = [[Indian South African|Indian]]/[[Asian South African|Asian]]
| demographics1_info3     = 7.3%
| demographics1_title4    = [[White South African|White]]
| demographics1_info4     = 84.2%
| demographics1_title5    = Other
| demographics1_info5     = 0.4%
<!-- demographics (section 2) -->
| demographics_type2      = [[First language]]s (2011)
| demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" />
| demographics2_title1    = [[South African English|English]]
| demographics2_info1     = 50.7%
| demographics2_title2    = [[Afrikaans]]
| demographics2_info2     = 42.1%
| demographics2_title3    = [[Southern Ndebele language|S. Ndebele]]
| demographics2_info3     = 2.0%
| demographics2_title4    = [[Sotho language|Sotho]]
| demographics2_info4     = 2.0%
| demographics2_title5    = Other
| demographics2_info5     = 3.2%
<!-- blank fields (section 2) -->
<!-- Other information -->
| timezone1               = [[South African Standard Time|SAST]]
| utc_offset1             = +2
| postal_code_type        = [[List of postal codes in South Africa|Postal code]] (street)
| postal_code             = 1110
| postal2_code_type       = [[Post-office box|PO box]]
| postal2_code            = 1110
| area_code_type          = [[Telephone numbers in South Africa|Area code]]
| area_code               = 013
| website                 = [http://www.dullstroom.co.za/ Dullstroom]
}}
'''Dullstroom''', also known as '''Emnothweni''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dullstroom.info/|title=Proudly Dullstroom|website=www.dullstroom.info|access-date=Apr 6, 2020}}</ref> is a small town in [[Mpumalanga]] province, [[South Africa]]. The town lies {{convert|35|km|0|abbr=off}} north of [[Belfast, Mpumalanga|Belfast]] and some {{convert|53|km|0|abbr=off}} south-west of [[Lydenburg]] on the [[R540 (South Africa)|R540 road]].

Along with [[Barkly East]] and [[Underberg, KwaZulu-Natal|Underberg]], it is one of South Africa's premier [[trout|flyfishing]] destinations. The town features the highest [[railway station]] in South Africa at {{convert|2,077|m|ft|0|abbr=off}} [[above sea level]] as well as at the foot of De Berg, the highest point in the province at {{convert|2,332|m|ft|0|abbr=off}}.  Dullstroom's location on the [[Highveld]] plateau is the reason that its climate is so different from the surrounding areas.

==History==
The area was occupied in the mid-19th century by the [[Southern Ndebele people]] under the rule of King Mabhoko (called Mapoch by white settlers). Like his son [[Nyabêla]], Mabhoko used [[Mapoch's Caves]] as a hideout during conflict with troops of the [[South African Republic]] (ZAR). The most violent fighting took place from 1882 to 1883. The nearby Fort Mapoch and a statue of Nyabêla are major attractions in Dullstroom.

Dullstroom was established as the work of a settlement company founded in 1883 by its namesake [[Netherlands|Dutchman]] Wolterus Dull, at the invitation of [[State President of the South African Republic]] [[Paul Kruger]], to settle Dutch immigrants. Dull, a merchant from [[Amsterdam]], chairman of a committee which rendered assistance to families who had suffered losses during the [[First Anglo-Boer War]]. The element ''stroom'', ‘stream’, refers to the [[Crocodile River (Mpumalanga)|Crocodile River]] nearby. The company purchased the farms Groot Suikerboschkop and Elandslaagte as the nucleus of the fledgling settlement, including housing for the settlers on the former. The village was proclaimed a town by Kruger in Dull's honor on October 9, 1893.

Settlers continued to immigrate from 1884 to 1887. By 1893, the population had reached 48 people in eight houses, served by three stables, ten cattle pens, and a small trading company and store.

While many of the men joined the rebels in the [[Second Boer War]], the women and children were held in the [[British concentration camps|British concentration camp]] in [[Belfast, Mpumalanga|Belfast]]. After the [[Battle of Bergendal]], guerrilla fighting continued in the area for a while. During the war, the town was destroyed and most of the settlers returned to the Netherlands.

Only two buildings were left standing after the war, but some of the residents returned to rebuild the town, however. The church was rebuilt in 1905.<ref>Lowveld Living, ''Dullstroom, the alternative route'', p.60, 2016</ref> In 1921, the first city council met. After [[fly fishing]], originally a [[New England]] pastime, became popular with the wealthy residents of [[Johannesburg]], properties with trout dams were purchased, which are still used today.

==Climate==
Due to its high elevation (Dullstroom being the highest town in South Africa itself), Dullstroom has a [[subtropical highland climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Cwb''). From October to April, the town sees a significant amount of rainfall (higher than nearby [[Johannesburg]] to the west), in contrast with winter, where precipitation lacks.

Its relatively cool and temperate climate has made Dullstroom the only place in South Africa where [[beech]] and [[elm]] trees grow, which were originally planted by Dutch colonists.<ref name=dsapn>{{cite web|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)|url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames|publisher=Human Science Research Council|page=145|access-date=2020-04-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310224246/https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames|archive-date=2016-03-10|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Weather box
|location = Dullstroom
|metric first = y
|single line = y
|Jan high C = 19.0
|Feb high C = 18.9
|Mar high C = 17.2
|Apr high C = 16.7
|May high C = 15.8
|Jun high C = 12.3
|Jul high C = 11.6
|Aug high C = 9.9
|Sep high C = 13.7
|Oct high C = 15.7
|Nov high C = 16.3
|Dec high C = 17.9
|year high C =
|Jan mean C = 14.5
|Feb mean C = 14.2
|Mar mean C = 12.6
|Apr mean C =11
|May mean C =9.5
|Jun mean C =6.6
|Jul mean C = 5.9
|Aug mean C = 4.4
|Sep mean C = 9.8
|Oct mean C = 10.5
|Nov mean C = 11.8
|Dec mean C = 13
|year mean C =
|Jan low C = 10
|Feb low C = 8.6
|Mar low C = 8
|Apr low C =5.6
|May low C = 3.1
|Jun low C = 0.4
|Jul low C = 0.2
|Aug low C = -1.2
|Sep low C = 3
|Oct low C = 5.2
|Nov low C = 6.6
|Dec low C = 9
|year low C = 
|Jan precipitation mm = 206
|Feb precipitation mm = 166
|Mar precipitation mm = 106
|Apr precipitation mm = 98
|May precipitation mm = 96
|Jun precipitation mm = 56
|Jul precipitation mm = 46
|Aug precipitation mm = 66
|Sep precipitation mm = 88
|Oct precipitation mm = 93
|Nov precipitation mm = 137
|Dec precipitation mm = 168
|year precipitation mm =
|source 1 = <ref name = Climate-Data>{{cite web
| url = https://en.climate-data.org/location/189575/
| title = Climate: Dullstroom
| publisher = En.Climate-Data.Org
| access-date = 6 September 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170906091405/https://en.climate-data.org/location/189575/
| archive-date = 6 September 2017
| url-status = live
}}</ref> 
}}

==Culture==
[[File:Dullstroom hervormde kerk.JPG|thumb|The Dullstroom "Hervormde Kerk", [[Afrikaans]] for 'Reformed Church']]
Inspired by the Bavarian [[Oktoberfest]], the annual Ducktober Beer Fest is a beer, food and music festival held in Dullstroom and is the highest beer festival in Southern Africa,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dullstroomreservations.co.za/blog/ducktober-2017-the-highest-beer-festival-in-south-africa |title=Ducktober 2017 - the Highest Beer Festival in South Africa - Events - Dullstroom Reservations |access-date=2020-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003174613/https://www.dullstroomreservations.co.za/blog/ducktober-2017-the-highest-beer-festival-in-south-africa |archive-date=2017-10-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> at {{convert|2100|m|ft|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} above sea level. The festival is organised by Proudly Dullstroom and the inaugural event was hosted at The Duck & Trout in September 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ducktober.co.za|title= Official website|website= www.ducktober.co.za|access-date= 2020-04-04|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181227231728/http://ducktober.co.za/|archive-date= 2018-12-27|url-status= live}}</ref>

The Dullstroom Winter Festival is held every July and brings the whole community together. It also attracts people from all over South Africa. Music by local South African artists is the main attraction. The festival also hosts a kid's zone for young visitors as well as food stalls, artist exhibits, and whisky pairings stands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dullstroomwinterfestival.com/ |title=Music = Life |publisher=Dullstroom Winter Festival |date=2019-06-22 |access-date=2020-04-04}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://dullstroom.co.za Dullstroom Accommodation and Info]

{{Nkangala District Municipality}}
{{Portal bar|South Africa}}

[[Category:Populated places in the Emakhazeni Local Municipality]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1893]]