Middelburg

Description

Middelburg, a farming town in Mpumalanga, was originally established and called Nasareth, meaning "root from dry land", in 1864 by the Voortrekkers. In 1872, the town on the Klein Olifants River was renamed to Middelburg to mark it as the midway between Pretoria and Lydenburg.

Middelburg was used as a concentration camp during the Second World War and The Memorial Museum was built at the site, next to the 1 381 graves of women & children that died here.

The most important economic factors in the town are the Columbus Stainless steel plant and the surrounding agricultural land. The town also has a growing tourism industry due to its location along a main route to the Kruger National Park.