The Heart of Cape Town Museum honours all those who played a major role in a surgical feat that pushed the boundaries of science into the dawn of a new medical era, an era in which it became possible to transplant the symbol of the essence of life, our human heart.
The transplant, one of the greatest moments in medical history, was made possible by an extraordinary interplay of scientific dedication, human courage and generosity and a timely chain of events.
The drama of the world’s first heart transplant, led by Professor Christiaan Neethling Barnard, played out within the walls of the Charles Saint Theatre at Groote Schuur Hospital on 3 December 1967.
The Heart of Cape Town Museum at Groote Schuur Hospital commemorates the people who made the world’s first human heart transplant possible in 1967. The mseum has been opened at the hospital to honour this medical advance and the people who made it possible. You can see the operating theatres as they were at the time of the breakthrough and learn more about several cardiac surgeons’ race to be first.
Visiting Hours is from Monday to Sunday from 09h00 till 17h00.
