Fichardt came from Germany to Bloemfontein in 1853.
Aspects of the history of certain individuals of the Fichardt-family had been investigated and documented by several historians and interested people. Fichardt came from Germany to Bloemfontein in 1853 to quickly established the biggest trade enterprise during the Republican period in the city. Although of German descent, the home language of the family was English. As an exemplary citizen of the Orange Free State, who unconditionally accepted it as his second fatherland, Fichardt has traced deep steps in the community of Bloemfontein by, among others, to serve as mayor and chairman of
the board of De National Bank of the Orange Free State. His mild donation helped to establish a city library named after him and to pay the Lutheran church’s debt.
Gustav Adolph Fichardt (1834-1900) bought the farm Brandkop in 1859. An inscription on a wall gable of the main residence, records that the original house was erected in 1876 and was renovated and extended in 1919. More extensions and alterations followed through the years. The farmyard contains the main house, several cottages, a
kraal and milking shed and other remains of previous farming activities in the form of corrugated iron buildings, concrete
foundations, several water reservoir dams and irrigation furrows, stone steps and terrace walls.
Lanes of Trees
Several lanes of Blue Gum trees mark out the entrance to the farmhouse at Brandkop from the south-east over a distance of almost 3km. The trees are very old and it is recalled by the Fichardt descendants how, Gustav Adolph Fichardt, the first owner of the farm, used to walk out during his lunch hour to plant the seeds of the trees.
Graves
A graveyard near the farmhouse contains the burials of members of the Fichardt-family, the original owners of the farm, who were all former prominent citizens of Bloemfontein. The grave of Gustav Adolph Fichardt (1834-1900) and that of his wife Caroline Fichardt (Born Beck) (1843-1903), forms the nucleus of the graveyard at Brandkop.
