Hermannsburg School, South Africa

Hermannsburg School, originally Deutsche Schule Hermannsburg, is a private school in Hermannsburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Hermannsburg School
Location
Hermannsburg, KwaZulu-Natal (Umzinyathi District Municipality) South Africa
Coordinates	29.0416°S 30.7965°E / -29.0416; 30.7965
Information
Type	Independent private school
Established	1856
Grades	Kindergarten through Grade 12
Website	www.hmbschool.co.za

The Central Agency for Schools Abroad listed it as an international school in 2015,^[1] but as of 2025 no longer lists it.^[2]

History

The Deutsche Schule Hermannsburg was established by German missionaries in 1856, making it the oldest boarding school in the province, then Natal.^[3]

In 1965 it had 14 teachers and 307 students.^[4]

In 2015 the German government stopped funding the school, as the school would have needed to adopt the German curriculum, which it could not do. Then, a former student named Zola Mkumla, who graduated in 1997, purchased the school.^[5] Mkumla acquired the school in 2020.^[6]

Description

Hermannsburg School serves Grade levels RRRR (18 months) through Grade 12 (18 years).

Hermannsburg has English as its main language of instruction, although it has an intense German language programme.^[7] Zulu language, as a subject, is also offered in the school, as a second language alongside Afrikaans. Music and outdoor activities are other focus areas, besides the academic programme.^{[citation needed]}

The school offers boarding facilities, and day students from Greytown, 25 kilometres (16 mi) away, and Kranskop, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) away may use a bus service provided by the school.

Campus

There are three boarding facilities in the school and they are available for students in Grades 8–12. The Männerheim serves boys in Grades 8–12. Mädchenheim serves girls in Grades 8 and 9, while Neues Mädchenheim serves girls in Grades 10–12. All the boarding establishments accommodate the students in shared rooms of 2 or 3 students per room.

The primary school and kindergarten are separate from the High School. Both the junior school and the senior school have their own computer centres and libraries.

The school has extensive sporting facilities, including a swimming pool, tennis/basketball courts, rugby, cricket, hockey and soccer fields as well as volleyball nets.