Carl Otto Hager

Carl Otto Hager (16 October 1813 – 7 October 1898) was a German architect, portrait painter and pioneering photographer who became especially known in South Africa for the design of numerous church buildings of the Dutch Reformed Church.

He was one of the greatest exponents of the Neo-Gothic architectural style in South Africa, but many of the churches he designed have since been demolished, including those at Carnarvon, Fraserburg, Willowmore (it is uncertain whether he actually designed them), Caledon, Ceres and Heidelberg, Cape. Some of the most beautiful that have survived are those at Stellenbosch, Piketberg, Ladismith, Somerset East and Pearston. He also designed churches in the Free State, but their names have been forgotten. Other notable buildings for which he was responsible are the Seminary (since radically altered) and the neoclassical Old Main Building of the university at Stellenbosch.