Gustav Adolf Zahn, a Rhenish missionary, answered the call to South Africa in the 1830s, leaving Germany immediately without the chance to bid farewell to his parents. He never returned to his homeland and married in South Africa. Zahn purchased a water-rich farm outside Tulbagh, called Klipfontein, with a dream of establishing a rescue and development institute for freed slaves and their families. After the emancipation of slaves in 1838, many families settled on the farm from 1842 onwards, and it was renamed Steinthal, after a village in Eastern Germany.
Although the child and youth care centre was officially registered in 1961, Steinthal has long been committed to the spiritual, cultural, educational, and social development of both children and adults. The devastating earthquake that struck Tulbagh in September 1969 temporarily closed the centre until 1971 for necessary repairs. After reopening, it expanded to accommodate 600 children from across the country.
In 2000, to comply with the Children’s Act and the Department of Social Development’s norms and standards, the centre reduced its capacity to 150 children. On April 1, 2005, Steinthal Child and Youth Care Centre became a service of Badisa, continuing its mission of care and development.
