Your guide to Heidelberg Gauteng
#Jewish Synagogue
Heritage Blue Plaque #Nr 62
JEWISH SYNAGOGUE - 42 Fenter Street
What is the story here?
The hall was sold to the Free Masons. The Heidelberg Free Mason’s Lodge holds it’s warrant from the Grand Lodge of England. There were claims that Heidelberg’s lodge was the second oldest lodge in the then Transvaal. The building in Fenter street was never used as the Freemasons Lodge for meetings, as far as can be established. The Free Masons Temple was next to the Old Heidelberg Club, in Verwoerd Street, which has since been demolished.
THE HISTORY OF THE HEIDELBERG SYNAGOGUE AND THE MASONIC TEMPLE
THE BLUE PLAQUE RECOGNITION AND MUNICIPAL LAYOUT
The exceptional cultural and religious history of the property at 42 Fenter Street achieved formal preservation status on 7 October 2022. During an official civic ceremony hosted by the Heidelberg Heritage Association, local historian Mr Tony Burisch formally awarded a prestigious Blue Heritage Plaque to the site hall.
The installation is catalogued as Blue Plaque Number 62 within the association's heritage master index. The geographical placement of the hall anchors a prominent religious corridor within the town layout; the historic Jewish Cemetery is located directly at the far northern terminus of Fenter Street.
THE HEIDELBERG JEWISH CONGREGATION AND SYNAGOGUE (1893 – 1930)
The foundational religious assemblies of the Heidelberg Jewish community dates back to circa 1893.Sourcing no dedicated sanctuary during their early years, the congregation initially conducted their formal services inside the original Heidelberg Town Hall. As the community expanded, the local Jewish assembly entered into a shared space agreement, regularly hosting their sacred Sabbath services directly inside the local Masonic Temple.
The vision to construct an independent house of worship materialised through the philanthropy of the pioneer merchant, Mr A. Abrahamson, who formally presented a premium parcel of land on Fenter Street to the congregation. The ceremonial foundation stone for the new sanctuary was officially laid in 1929, and construction was completed in circa 1930 at a total cost of approximately £2,500.
As demographic shifts occurred in later decades, the local Jewish congregation dissolved, and the redundant building was repurposed to serve the broader public. The hall was regularly leased out to host community dancing lessons, wedding receptions, and elite social events.
During this mid-20th-century secular transition, the building acquired the popular local nickname "Die Blou Kerkie" (The Little Blue Church). The hall retained its cultural connection to local families into the contemporary era; local historian Tony Burisch recorded taking private dancing lessons with David here during the early 2000s, utilizing the space alongside his second wife to meticulously practice the traditional Waltz for their wedding ceremony.
THE ORIGINS OF THE HEIDELBERG MASONIC LODGE (1890)
The history of Freemasonry in South Africa dates back to its maritime inception in circa 1772. The local fraternity was formally established on 15 September 1890 under the banner of the Heidelberg Lodge, No. 2354.
The lodge holds its official operational warrant directly from the United Grand Lodge of England, dated 10 February 1890. While the local chapter claims historical status as the second oldest active Masonic Lodge founded in the Transvaal, it officially ranks as the fifth on the regional Roll of Honour.
The foundational Worshipful Master appointed to lead the Heidelberg Lodge was Mr W.B. Crosby. The executive chair was subsequently managed by a succession of highly influential, wealthy Heidelbergers, including the prominent local attorney Adrian van Geusau (who served as Master from 1896 to 1897), the telegraph director Mr G.C. Bär, and the senior District Surgeon, Dr Edward John Nixon.
DR. EDWARD JOHN NIXON AND THE VALLENTIN VOLUNTEERS
Dr Edward John Nixon was an elite Charter Member of the Freemasons, serving successful terms as Worshipful Master from 1897 to 1899, 1907 to 1908, and again in 1914. Beyond his medical and fraternal commitments, Nixon was heavily involved in the military operations of the district during the Second Anglo-Boer War.
He was originally commissioned as a Lieutenant within the British counter-insurgency unit known as Vallentin’s Heidelberg Volunteers. When the commanding officer, Brevet Major John Maximilian Vallentin, departed the district in late 1901 to command columns in the eastern Transvaal, Dr Nixon stepped forward to assume supreme command of the volunteers.
Dr Nixon operated his primary medical practice from his stately Cape Dutch residence situated further down Fenter Street. The household endured a bizarre and deeply tragic domestic accident in 1935; his wife, Ellen Elizabeth Philipson Nixon, was resting in her bedroom while recuperating from a severe medical illness when she was accidentally smothered to death by her large pet cat, which routinely slept in her bed.
Dr Nixon passed away just a few months later on 16 September 1935. Both the Doctor and his wife were returned to the town center under escort and interred alongside one another within the historic family plot at the Heidelberg Kloof Cemetery.
SOURCES AND CREDITS
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Primary Historiography: Derived from the localized property feature article written by journalist Eugene Viljoen, published in the 12 October 2022 edition of the Heidelberg/Nigel Heraut.
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Pioneer Records: Consolidated from the unpublished 1938 manuscript "The Story of Heidelberg" written by the Reverend Noel Roberts, Minister of St Ninian's Anglican Church, compiled from firsthand interviews with Charter Members.
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Fraternal and Civic Logs: Sourced from the historical warrant registries of the United Grand Lodge of England, and the property tracking master indexes of the Heidelberg Heritage Association curated by Tony Burisch.
