Christian Wilhelm Alheit

Christian Wilhelm Alheit also known as Christoph Wilhelm Alheit 13 November 1817 Mühlhausen, Thüringen - 21 March 1882 Steinthal, Tulbagh district, was a Rhenish missionary.

Alheit arrived in South Africa in 1842 and worked at mission stations in Tulbagh (1842-7), Schietfontein (1847-64), Stellenbosch (1864-73) and Saron (1873-1882).

Between 1864 and 1873 he was head of a boys' hostel in Stellenbosch where a third of the boys were the sons of Rhenish missionaries. Here Alheit showed great aptitude in the teaching of mathematics. Another hostel opened in 1860 and was called the Rhenish Institute for the daughters of Rhenish missionaries. From these schools a Gymnasium developed, which later turned into Victoria College and finally into Stellenbosch University.

The hamlet of Alheit 28°45′00″S 20°33′00″E / 28.75000°S 20.55000°E / -28.75000; 20.55000 on the Orange River between Kakamas and the Augrabies Falls, is named after him.

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