Queen's Fort Military Museum, Military history museum in Bloemfontein, South Africa

Queen's Fort Military Museum in Bloemfontein displays weapons, vehicles, and equipment from different periods of South African history. The grounds sit on Church Street with outdoor space for large exhibition pieces and indoor rooms for detailed historical artifacts.

The fort began in 1848 as a military structure built under Major Henry Douglas Warden to protect the young settlement. Later it served as a hospital, command center, and took on different military roles over the decades.

The museum holds memories of conflicts that shaped South Africa, from the wars of the 1800s through the major conflicts of the 1900s. Visitors see through the exhibits how these events changed the country and its people.

Visitors should plan time to see both the outdoor areas with tanks and aircraft and the indoor exhibits. The grounds are walkable and give a good overview of the collection in half a day or full day.

David Pratt, who shot Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd twice at point-blank range with a .22 pistol, was committed to the Fort on 26 September 1960 after five psychiatrists found him not criminally liable. He died there in October 1961, having hanged himself with a rolled-up bed sheet.