JHB/NAMM/0010

Erected to the memory of the men of Johannesburg who laid down their lives in the great war 1914-1919.The square was named after a former minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. He was banned by the apartheid government for campaigning against the laws that governed the apartheid regime. The square was the first market place in the city and was therefore named Market Square. In 1913, the famous market was moved to Newtown where Museum Africa stands now and various buildings began to take shape where the market was held. City Hall was opened in 1915, standing across the road from where the square currently is and the city library was built in 1935. In 2001, the Square was renamed in honor of the passionate anti-apartheid activist, Naudé. The square was previously filled with large concrete and face-brick structures, but since the renovation of the square in 2011, there are two towers with concrete bases and tall, glass top pieces carrying an image of Beyers Naudé at the pulpit.