User:Beneaththelandslide/drafts/German Settlement in South Australia

German Settlement in South Australia has a long and varied history with the colony (now state) welcoming migrants to its shores in 1839, only three years after it was proclaimed. Initial German migration was led by Pastor August Kavel and his congregation, fleeing religious persecution in the German Empire.

First Settlers
The village of Klemzig, in Prussia (part of modern-day Poland) was the source of the first German settlers. There Pastor Kavel had attained a reputation as an inspiring speaker at the village church, with crowds coming from miles around to hear him preach. New Lutheran worship books were put in churches under the reign of Kaiser Frederick William III in 1830, bringing the church increasingly under the control of the empire. Pastors who refused to worship according to the books, which by many were considered untrue to the scriptures, were dismissed from their posts and their conregrations persecuted by the state. Kavel, after much thought, returned in 1834 to his normal worship, thus becoming what was termed an Old Lutheran. Petitions were sent to the Kaiser before Kavel returned to his original worship, advising him as to the wishes of the Klemzig conregation and their desire to worship according to their beliefs. All attempts at deliberation failed and simple replies were given in return: "Pastor Kavel was in error together with the whole congregation". In 1835, on Easter Monday, Kavel was expelled from the ministry and barred, along with his flock, from using the village church. In absence of their pastor, the village people did not initially attend services, even with police officers on hand to guide them to it. Eventually most families returned although they retained loyalty to Kavel's preachings. During this time the only services Kavel held were to his family in their home.

Kavel started looking for places to emigrate to; in visits to Russian Poland he made contact with other Pastors who were to emigrate to Russia. Earlier Germans had already migrated to the area fleeing persecution during earlier times, becoming the Volga Germans. Failing these plans, Kavel then travelled to Hamburg to seek further information and advice. After further failure, he then went to London, England upon hearing of a new British colony in Australia. There he came into the parlance of George Fife Angas, chairman of the South Australia Company. Impressed with Kavel but still unsure, Angas sent his chief clerk Charles Flaxman to Prussia so as to provide more information on the possible emigrants. Similarly, three Germans went to London to meet with Angas. After both groups had met thoroughly, Angas put in motion plans to set the emigrants on their way to South Australia as soon as possible. Two ships, the Sarah and Elizabeth, had been sent to Hamburg to take them in 1836. Failing the company taking the burden of the cost of the emigrants, Angas used his own money to charter ships for the voyage. This was unfortunate for all involved; the German authorities declined passports to the emigrants, Angas lost sizeable cash through the voyage and the ships could have been used for other purposes.

Passports were finally provided in 1838 and more ships were provided, again by Angas. The German emigrants had seen much of their finances wither and were cash-strapped for their journey. All their properties, houses and belongings were sold so they could afford the journey. An initial two hundred Germans set off on June 8, 1838 from Klemzig with a crowd of one thousand seeing them go. Travelling on Oder boats through the complex river and canal system of the empire, they arrived at Hamburg three weeks later. They spent a further eleven days in Hamburg, spending much time near the Harbour and buying supplies not only for their trip, but for their settlement in South Australia. Two ships, the Bengalee and the Prince George took this first group. Two more ships, the Catharina and the Zebra would take further migrants in August from other German harbours. The settlers and the sailors regarded each other with deep respect and it was fortunate for both groups sailing on the Prince George that both Charles Flaxman and one of the sailors spoke German.

Upon arrival at Port Adelaide the settlers were greeted by a strange and newfound land, its customs alien to them. David McLaren, the Colonial Manager of the South Australia Company, did little to help the new settlers and for weeks they were camped near the port. There they lived on land owned by an agent of the company and were permitted to use an Anglican chapel for their worship. During this time a spring was discovered and the Germans assisted in carrying water to the already established populace. The managers of the Port regretted seeing the small tent city that had been erected go.

Flaxman arranged for some of Angas' land east of the city, on the banks of the River Torrens, to be leased to the Germans. At this point, as they were not British subjects, the Germans could not buy land of their own. There the Village of Klemzig was established, and the settlers quickly sought agricultural pursuits. Kavel had noted the lack of agricultural self-sufficency in the colony and sought, with his flock, to alleviate this. On May 24 1839, a large group of Germans gathered at Government House to sign and pledge alleigance to the British Crown.

They were optimistic at Klemzig, but the soil was not as suited to farming as they wished and with the arrival of further emigrants, soon considered starting settlements elsewhere. Kavel had journeyed through the Adelaide Hills in January 1839 and was impressed with what he saw. He intended to start a settlement there - the area he sought was near the Onkaparinga River (named the Angas river by Kavel) and situtated roughly between Mount Lofty and Mount Barker. In a letter to Angas in February 1839, he described the area: "The country there is beautiful and splendid, indeed. Its views are charming, its soil soft and fertile, the grass growing most luxuriantly, the pasturage no doubt, very excellent". After Kavel's visit to the hills, more of the German settlers made travels there, accompanied by the captain of the Zebra. Dirk Meinhertz Hahn, who had stayed in South Australia, was impressed at the goodwill of the settlers. When he saw first what was to become this new village he spoke of the land: "It seems to me as if nature had lavished her choicest gifts on South Australia, I should like to end my days here and never return to the busy world." Hahn organised 150 hectares of land for the settlers; 38 hectares were used for the town, and the rest for farming. The land was later increased to 240 hectares. Due to lack of money they carried their belongings not on bullocks but on their own backs. In May 1839 all families had made it there and the new village of Hahndorf, named in honour of Captain Hahn, was established.

Chain Migration
German settlement later expanded into the Barossa Valley where they founded the towns of Bethany, Tanunda, Langmeil and Nuriootpa. It was in 1842 that the first families reached the area and established Bethany; 117 Germans settled on more of Angas' land, this time arranged by his second agent, Forster. Some of the original settlers from Klemzig moved there in 1843 and founded the second town, Langmeil.

The German settlers were much sought after by the early colonial authorities; they were seen as the perfect migrants. In Germany, living conditions and pay were much lower than that in South Australia and the ability to save the money for a journey to the colony seemed distant. However, families that had already migrated used their savings to cover the costs of bringing more of their kin out. The Germans did not ever default on their loans, despite many having interest rates of over 20%, the money was paid back in time. Early Adelaide relied on the German farms to feed the growing population. The discipline of the early migrants was also evident; during the Victorian Gold Rush when many colonists left in the hope of finding gold the Germans stayed steadfast, proclaiming that they "make gold with the plough".