Stutterheim is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, situated approximately 79 km north-west of East London on the N6 National Route.
The town is named after Richard von Stutterheim.
Stutterheim falls within the Amahlathi Local Municipality and the Amathole District Municipality. Stutterheim is the main town and administrative centre/seat of the Local Municipality.
Due to its fair annual rainfall, Stutterheim is a flourishing forestry centre which includes large pine, gum, and wattle plantations that are established on the slopes of the Kologha Mountains. It is the home of many picturesque hiking trails, as well as mountain streams. The nearby Gubu Dam is well-stocked with trout. Several sheep and cattle stud farms are also to be found in Stutterheim. Wool, dairy, beef, and poultry are other central products that the town produces.
History
The area’s earliest human population were Bushmen. Khoikhoi groups roamed the area with their cattle before Xhosa groups moved in during the mid-17th century CE.
Missionaries arrived in the area in the 1830s from the Berlin Missionary Society, followed by German settlers from the 1850s, and further waves of English colonists later on.
The town was originally named for Baron Richard Carl Gustav Ludwig Wilhelm Julius von Stutterheim, who became a major-general in the British Army as the head of the British German Legion and spent eight months in South Africa before returning to Germany. It was later renamed Dohne after the first missionary in the area, Jacob Ludwig Döhne, but in 1857, it was reverted to its previous name, with the name Döhne referring only to a small station nearby.
The Cape Colony received a degree of independence in 1872 when Responsible Government was declared, and in 1877, the government of Prime Minister John Molteno began construction of the railway line connecting Stutterheim to East London on the coast. This was officially opened in August 1878 and led to significant growth and economic development in and around the town.
On 20 May 1879, Stutterheim was proclaimed a municipality. Today, Stutterheim is part of a much larger municipality named Amahlathi Local Municipality.
