Pretoria Museums

See also Pretoria Monuments & Landmarks

Airforce Memorial & Museum
The Air Force Museum depicts the history of the South African Air Force. This museum houses a collection of old aircraft, has uniforms, metals and paintings on display.

Address:
Air Force Base Swartkop, Old Johannesburg / Pretoria Rd (R101)
Tel: (012) 351-2153
Mon - Fri: 9:00 - 15:30
Weekends: 10:00 - 16:00

Smuts House Museum
Home to General Jan Smuts for over 40 years, Doornkloof in Irene, southeast of Pretoria, is a unique museum that reveals much about the life and the spirit of this great statesman.

Claude Malan Museum
This collector's showroom and museum is a haven for historians and collectors alike. Books, art, diamonds, gold & silver, porcelain, dolls, militaria, Art Deco & Art Noweau, antique furniture, clocks & watches, cameras, gramaphones, copper, brass, bronzes, tinplate toys and much more.

Address:
Lynwood Road, Hillcrest, Pretoria.
Tel 012 362-0654

Melrose House
Melrose House is a Victorian mansion requisitioned in 1900 by Lord Roberts and turned into the headquarters of the British forces.

Correctional Service Museum
This museum is the only one of its kind in South Africa.With interesting artwork, forged keys, the development of the penal system in this country and houses a fascinating collection of illegally-made items confiscated from prisoners.

Address:
Prison Reserve, Central Prison, Potgieter Street
Tel: (012) 314 176

Kruger House Museum
Built in 1884, the Kruger House Museum commemorates the life of Paul Kruger, former president of the Zuid Afrikaansche (Transvaal) Republiek. The interior has been faithfully recreated to look exactly as it did when Kruger lived in it more than a century ago.

Address:
60 Church Street
Phone: (012) 326-9172
Mon - Fri: 8:30 - 16:00
Weekends and public holidays: 9:00 - 16:00

Pioneer Open Air Museum
Covering more than 3ha along the banks of the Morelata Spruit, this is a gracious Voortrekker farmstead with a carefully restored horse mill, threshing floor and set of farming implements.

Address:
Church Street East and Pretoria Rd, Silverton (Exit 3 on N4)
Tel: (012) 803-6086/7
Mon - Fri: 8:30 -16:00

Sammy Marks Museum
Sammy Marks, an entrepeneur, philanthropist and friend of Paul Kruger, built and furnished this Victorian mansion.

Science & Technology Museum
A unique museum offering a series of fascinating interactive exhibits dealing with proven and potential scietific an technological discoveries.

Address:
Didacta Building, 211 Skinner Street, Pretoria
Tel: (012) 392-9300/9359
Mon - Fri: 8:00 - 16:00
Sat: 14:00 - 17:00

Ditsong Museum of Natural History (previously Transvaal Museum)
A natural history museum depicting the history of life on earth; mammals and their evolutionary history and have a display of nearly 870 of southern Africa's birds.

Address:
Paul Kruger Street (opposite City Hall)
Tel: (012) 322-7632
Mon - Sun: 08:00 - 16:00 (except Christmas Day & Good Friday)

Ditsong National Cultural History Museum
The National Cultural History Museum is a cultural museum and dedicated to the preservation and communication of the culture and heritage of all South Africans. It has access to a collection of about three million objects which are displayed in a variety of permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Address:
Visagie St, between Bosman and Schubart Sts, Pretoria
Tel: (012) 324-6082

Museum of Geological Survey
Housing a display of South Africa's minerology and geology.

Address:
Paul Kruger Street, Pretoria

See also Encounter Magazine's guide on South Africa Museums.