Arts, Culture & Heritage
X-twitter Facebook Instagram
Blue Plaque Sites

First Wits Medical School

Table of Contents

About First Wits Medical School

Developed in cooperation with the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation

Address

Now the National Institution for occupational Health. 25 Hospital Street, Hospital Hill, Hillbrow.
August 2022

Inscription

FIRST WITS MEDICAL SCHOOL The first Medical school was established on Hospital Hill, emphasising that clinical training would take precedence over academic work. Reid and Delbridge were awarded the design in a competition. The foundation stone was laid in 1920 but the four wings around a quadrangle were only completed in 1928. Within the stone-walled basement was the mortuary, with the high-volume dissecting hall above adjoining a raked lecture theatre. These spaces are delineated in the three-storied Beaux Arts faade.

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.

Browse Heritage Sites