A Brief History Of Hermanus

The town lies on the western side of Walker Bay, named after a Royal Naval officer called Walker. The first known resident was Hermanus Pieters, an itinerant teacher of Caledon who in the early 1800s came across a fresh spring when searching for greener pastures for his sheep. Farmers from surrounding areas soon came to know of the good summer grazing and brought their livestock – as well as their families who could then enjoy a "holiday" at the seaside. The spring came to be known as Hermanuspietersfontein but was shortened to Hermanus when municipal status was given to the town in 1904.

Following hard on the heels of the farmers came the fishermen who settled here to make the most of the abundant fishing. Early in the 1900s the town became known across the world for its excellent fishing, outstanding beauty and "healing". It even became fashionable for Harley Street doctors in London to prescribe visits to Hermanus' "champagne air" to their patients.

An early and regular visitor to Hermanus was Sir William Hoy, general manager of the South African Railways. He was so taken by the tranquility of the village that he saw to it that the Bot River railway line never reached Hermanus. To this day the Hermanus Station has no train lines or trains. Sir William and his wife lie buried atop Hoy’s Koppie, a hill almost in the middle of the village. The koppie is popular with walkers and provides a grand lookout point over the town.

As more visitors flocked to the town, hotels were built to accommodate the demand for holiday lodgings. Then came churches, a school, magistrate's courts, a new post office, police station, and even a new harbour.

Sadly, an element of Hermanus which seems doomed to history is our perlemoen (abalone). For many years this was a highly profitable industry which provided employment for many, but soaring demand for this mollusc by the Far East has led to frantic poaching. Brazen and armed with machine pistols, the poachers outgunned the authorities – they dive for perlemoen where and when it suits them. Much of the money made from this poaching is ploughed into the drug trade. On the bright side, Hermanus has flourishing abalone farms which produce perlemoen for export to the Far East.

Recreational diving of perlemoen is no longer permitted, and the taste of this once-popular Cape dish is beginning to fade from our memories.