The Kruger Museum and its contents tell the story of President Paul Kruger and his struggle for the independence of the old Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR). The Museum consists of the original house, in which S.J.P. Kruger and his family lived during the last years of the 19th century, as well as two display halls and President Kruger’s State Railway Coach.
The Presidency was not an official residence but a modest private home. The house has been refurbished to look almost as it did during the time President and Mrs Kruger lived there, based on a thorough study of the available evidence of the original furnishings. The Kruger museum was opened in 1934 and declared a National monument in 1937.
The ZAR Hall exhibits Krugeriana and tokens of honour given to the Boers including tributes, addresses, pictures, poems, medals, musical compositions, sketches, letters, albums, books and newspapers, originating from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Ireland, the USA, Israel, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Russia and Spain. The exhibits in the Exile Hall cover President Kruger’s exile including his journey from Lourenço Marques to Europe, his hero’s welcome in France and the Netherlands, his exile in Europe, his death in Switzerland and the State funeral in Pretoria.
The State Railway Coach was used by President Kruger from 1894 till 1900, on official visits and political campaigns to parts of the ZAR and on his trips to Natal and Bloemfontein during the Boer War. He also lived for a short time in the coach while at Machadodorp and used it to travel to Lourenço Marques, to go from there in exile to Europe. In 1952 the Kruger coach was brought to its present site at the Kruger museum.
