Marianhill Mission School

Founded in 1884 by ***. **** 1882 Marianhill Mission station and Catholic school opens. with attendant Catholic school is opened.

Marianhill Mission station

In 1882 Prior Franz Pfanner of the Reformed Cistercians (Trappists) intended establishing a Trappist Monastery and commencing the work of evangelisation among the local Africans. In 1885 he became Abbot of the new foundation which he called Mariannhill. He resigned from office in 1893 and was succeeded by Abbots Amandus Scholzig who died in 1900 and Gerard Wolpert. Abbot Franz Pfanner died on the 24 May 1909, and about the same time Rome separated the Mariannhill Abbey from the Trappist Order. Mariannhill was constituted an independent Missionary Congregation with the official title: The Congregation of Missionaries of Mariannhill (CMM).

In 1921 the Mariannhill Vicariate (up to then part of the Natal Vicariate) was erected and comprised the southern part of Natal and all Transkeian territories. It was sub divided in 1930 and again in 1935. Those territories now form the Dioceses of Umtata and Kokstad and part of Queenstown. Divided again in 1954, the territory of the Diocese of Umzimkulu was detached.

Civil districts within the ecclesiastical boundaries of the Diocese of Mariannhill comprise Ixopo, Impendle, Richmond, Umzinto, Umbumbulu, parts of Port Shepstone, Camperdown and Pinetown, Polela and Underberg.

Marianhill and theatre

Father Bernard Huss produced numerous religious plays, comedies and dramatisations ofZulu narratives. According to Petersen (2002) the work at the mission between 1900 and 1925 thus laid the groundwork of the kind of black theatre that would exist for decades to come. Yvette Hutchinson (2004:) suggests that the theatre done was collaboratively improvised, incorporating song and dance, and showed the strong influence of European education and Christianity. Huss also profoundly influenced artists like Vilakazi and the Lucky Stars, as well as indicviduals such as the Reverend Ray Phillips, who, while heading the American Mission Board on the Witwatersrand, began an inmiatiative which would lead to the establishment of the Bantu Men’s Social Centre (BMSC) from which the Bantu Dramatic Society and H.I.E. Dhlomo would emerge.

Sources

Loren Kruger, 1999:28), Yvette Hutchison (in Martin Banham, 2004:pp 312-379)

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