Old Netherlands Bank building



The Old Netherlands Bank building (Ou Nederlandse Bankgebou, Oude Nederlandsche Bankgebouw) is a building on Church Square in the South African administrative capital of Pretoria. The building carries the name of the former Nederlandsche Bank voor Suid-Afrika (now Nedbank) and is one of the protected buildings on the western side of the Square.

Bank building
On March 23, 1888, the Nederlandsche Bank en Credietvereniging voor Zuid-Afrika ("Dutch Bank and Credit Union for South Africa") was founded in Amsterdam. The same year, a primary branch office was established in Pretoria, the capital of the then South African Republic (ZAR). By 1898, the bank had already opened four branches in the Republic. Dutch architect Willem de Zwaan was commissioned thus in 1896 to designed a building for the Netherlands Bank. He designed it in the Dutch Renaissance style. All the wrought iron work was done by the F.W. Braat company out of Delft, Netherlands.

On December 2, 1997, the bank opened its doors in the new building. When completed, it was the Netherlands Bank's third branch, and was one of seven bank branches located around Church Square. In 1914, a fire destroyed the second (top) floor of the building.

When the Old Netherlands Bank registered its South African branch under the name Nederlandse Bank in Suid-Afrika ("Dutch Bank in South Africa") as an independent subsidiary in 1951, the South African government bought the property, which has remained in its hands ever since. Nedbank kept its headquarters on the ground floor until 1953, when it moved to Johannesburg. The first floor was rented out to the Zuid-Afrikaansche Fabrieken Voor Ontplofbare Stoffen ("South African Factory for Explosive Substances").

University
From 1975 to 1977, the building was used as a headquarters for the Department of Architecture at the University of Pretoria. The university has also used the building as a temporary exhibition space, making it a key destination for connoisseurs of architecture. Therefore, State President of South Africa Marais Viljoen declared the western edge of Church Square a national monument.

In 1993, a commemorative plate was revealed bearing the names of 64 schools in Pretoria that advocated for the national monument designation.

Current use
The Tshwane Tourist Information Centre began offering the building as a local office in 2000 for the Vereniging voor Vreemdelingenverkeer. The Centre rents the building from the provincial government of Gauteng. The offices on the first floor served as the new Local Economic Development en Business Library.

Architecture
The facade of the building is sandstone, while the sides are red brick. The joints are rounded with occasional cut joints for accent, common in the Dutch Renaissance style. The fencing and interiors are rendered in Art Nouveau. Including a cast-iron railing with tulip accents, such fencing was made by Braat.