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Originally the district of Middelburg was part of the Republic of Lydenburg. In 1860, however, before the town of Middelburg was established (1864), this district was incorporated into the Transvaal Republic. From 1866 the town was called Nazareth until the Volksraad in 1874 restored the name of Middelburg. During the Second Anglo-Boer War the British forces who had occupied the town established a military and a concentration camp there. Although Middelburg at first developed very slowly, it eventually became an important administrative and educational centre. The large population growth and the rapid progress that Middelburg has experienced in the past two decades have been responsible for the demolition of many of the historical buildings that linked the town with the past.
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George Claassen (2024) studied this question.
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