Memel is a small town in the Free State province of South Africa, nestled close to the provincial boundaries of both kwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, and is situated some 1,730 metres above sea level.EtymologyThe town is perhaps named after the port city of Memel in former East Prussia by a settler with historical links to the Baltic, but there is no direct evidence of this. Today this Baltic city is called Klaipėda in Lithuania. In the Latvian Curonian language of the Baltic states, Memel means mute, silent (memelis, mimelis, mēms) and this same name was adopted by speakers of German who later colonized that part of the Baltic. Whilst silence certainly remains one of the fine attributes of the surrounding rural area, it can be difficult to find within the town itself these days as the population of Memel continues to expand. There is also little evidence to support the alternate theory that Memel means surrounded by water, although that is an equally apt description.The recent changes that swept across South Africa since the early 1990s have also brought about a change to the name of this town, Memel-Zamani now being the official name in recognition of the Zamani township - a settlement adjoining Memel to the west in which several thousand black Africans reside. During the apartheid era Zamani was separated from Memel by a golf course which acted as a buffer between the two, now however the golf course no longer exists, houses have been built on it and the buffer zone has disappeared. The town and township are now adjacent in one small location.GeographyMemel-Zamani lies in the west-facing lee of the Drakensberg escarpment, the escarpment functioning as the continental divide. Its high elevation and close proximity to the escarpment are the major reason for Memel's cold winters. Visitors are frequently surprised by just how cold winter can be in Memel. Added to this is the fact that the town sits in a depression in the land, this depression being surrounded by distant mountains. Memel-Zamani lies near to the Klip River from where the towns water supply is drawn.
