This site takes its facts from other people's work. Here is all of it, credited and linked, so you can read the originals.
We keep this page for two reasons. The first is fairness: the journalists, historians and photographers below did the work, and they should get the click. The second is that Wupperthal has been written about badly as often as well — dates drift, the village gets confused with a modern shoe brand, and one story gets copied into ten. Where our sources disagree, we say so on the page rather than picking whichever number sounds best.
The shoe factory and the veldskoen
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BusinessTech · Caitlyn Hilliard-Lomas · 10 August 2026
The small 196-year-old town founded by two Germans, that gave birth to South Africa's most iconic shoes
The fullest recent piece on the village: the two Rhenish missionaries, the shoe factory, the Strassberger move to Clanwilliam, the tannery and glove factory, the roltabak — with a set of photographs of the village as it looks now.
What we took from it: the founders' names, the first-commercial-veldskoen claim, the Strassberger lineage, the village's other trades, and most of the photography on this site. Read it on businesstech.co.za › -
Forbes Africa · 1 October 2012
These shoes are made for walking and walking
The reported piece on the factory floor — the cobblers, the visitors who arrive asking directions, and the day Nelson Mandela was handed a pair by the factory manager, Arnold Gertse.
What we took from it: the 42–46 cobblers at its height, the Mandela visit, and the “nearly a century” of national reputation. Read it on forbesafrica.com › -
Daily Investor
The small town in the mountains that has been making South Africa's most iconic shoes for 192 years
A shorter business-desk telling of the same story, useful mainly as a second source on the factory's age and its claim to being the country's oldest.
Note: this is one of the sources that dates the workshop to 1834 rather than 1836 — which is why we give both. Read it on dailyinvestor.com › -
Strassbergers · the company's own history
About us — Strassberger Shoes, Clanwilliam
The Clanwilliam side of the story, from the family that ran the Wupperthal factory from the 1920s and moved the operation down the pass in the 1950s. Roughly 80% of the work there is still done by hand.
Worth being clear about: Strassbergers in Clanwilliam and the workshop in Wupperthal are two different places. Wupperthal is the older one. Read it on strassbergers.co.za › -
Wupperthal Shoe Factory · the factory itself
Wupperthal Shoe Factory
The workshop's own site — the primary source for what is being made today, and the place to start if you want a pair rather than a story.
Visit wupperthal.com › -
Wikipedia · reference
Veldskoen
Background on the shoe itself: the name from vel and veld, the Khoisan origins of the design, the low topline, and the soles cut from old car tyres.
Read it on wikipedia.org ›
The 2018 fire, and the rebuild
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Daily Maverick · 13 September 2021
Wupperthal: first the residents of this historic village fought the flames; now they fight for their homes
The hard, necessary piece — what the fire took, how the rebuild actually went, and the questions of land and ownership that came after it. Read this one if you read only one.
What we took from it: the scale of the loss, and the fact that the rebuild is a community story rather than a heritage-project story. Read it on dailymaverick.co.za › -
Tourism Update
Historic Wupperthal rebuilds after 2018 fire
The clearest account of Die Werf specifically: what stood on it, that 52 buildings were lost in December 2018, and that it was rebuilt in a little under 18 months in clay brick and poplar beams.
What we took from it: the make-up of Die Werf, the 52 buildings, the 18-month rebuild, and that Lekkerbekkie was among the buildings lost. Read it on tourismupdate.com › -
Getaway
Historic Wupperthal in the Cederberg to be rebuilt after tragic fire
The travel-press view of the rebuild, and the heritage argument for putting the cottages back exactly as they were.
Read it on getaway.co.za ›
The village today — tourism, food and the community
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West Coast District Municipality · tourism projects
Tourism — West Coast District Municipality
The municipality's own project list, which records Lekkerbekkie restaurant in Wupperthal as “upgraded and furnished, run by ladies from the community”, and self-catering units built and run by the community.
What we took from it: that the restaurant's upgrade came through West Coast district tourism support, and that it is community-run. Read it on westcoastdm.co.za › -
West Coast Way
Wupperthal
The regional route body's page on the village — where Wupperthal sits on the wider West Coast touring routes, and what it points visitors toward.
Read it on westcoastway.co.za › -
Enjo Nature Farm · Biedouw Valley
Nearby: Wupperthal
A neighbour's honest write-up of the drive in and what there is to do once you arrive — written by people who send guests over the pass every week.
Read it on enjonaturefarm.co.za › -
Wikipedia · reference
Wupperthal
The reference baseline: the 1830 founding, the naming, the handover to the Moravian Church, and the village's makeup today.
Where sources clash: Wikipedia and South African History Online put the Moravian handover in 1965. At least one widely-read article gives 1865. We use 1965. Read it on wikipedia.org ›
Also drawn on
South African History Online and The Heritage Portal, for the mission's early history and the architectural record of the cottages; SA-Venues for the church dates; Wesgro for the route and distances; and Wikimedia Commons for the freely licensed photography credited on each page. The riel dancers, Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers, have been covered widely in South African media; we describe only what those reports support.
If you wrote one of these pieces, took one of these photographs, or run one of the businesses described on this site, and something here is wrong or you would rather we did not use it — tell us and we will fix or remove it the same week. Credit and consent matter more to us than a full page.
Last updated August 2026