Arts, Culture & Heritage
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Blue Plaque Sites

Zoo lake Centenary 1906 – 2006

Table of Contents

About Zoo lake Centenary 1906 – 2006

The original ceramic plaque from 2006 was smashed and destroyed by vandalism in June 2023. A second blue plaque was installed at Zoo Lake around December 2021.

Address

Lower Park Drive and Westwold Way, Parkview
2006

Inscription

In 1890 Eduard Lippert established a forest, known as the Sachsenwald, on part of the farm Braamfontein. Part of this was given to the people of Johannesburg in 1904 for the specific use as a public park and named Herman Eckstein Park after a leading mining pioneer. In 1906 the City Council built a lake on this section, which was marshland. It immediately became a major attraction and has continued, particularly throughout the apartheid years, to be a source of great pleasure to all the people of Johannesburg

Photo courtesy: Kabelo Mokoena (Sunday Times)

Explore Joburg

A culmination of research gathered over many years, the Online Johannesburg Heritage Register is being launched on Nelson Mandela Day 18 July 2025.

Among the many heritage sites featured is Chancellor House, the downtown offices of Mandela and Tambo Attorneys in the 1950s. After having been vacant and shuttered for more than a decade, this iconic building is being revived and brought to life once again as offices for the Community Development Department, which oversees the City’s Arts, Culture & Heritage Services.

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