Thank you John, that was a very interesting story. Helen > John Heinemann <john.heinemann@ozemail.com.au> wrote: > > 2. Re: Reason for diverting from South Africa (Anna Bell) > > I have found the article below that was printed in a South African > newspaper > The Daily Dispatch two years ago. While it does not indicate why some > migrants approved to go to Africa came to Australia, it does indicate > the > reasons why the British Governor was seeking German migrants. > > John Heinemann > > > 2008/07/07 > SO WHAT did the Germans ever do for us besides bratwurst and beer? Quite > a > lot actually, say the experts. This month marks the 150th anniversary of > the > arrival of the German Settlers in the Eastern Cape - and there is a host > of > celebrations and exhibitions to commemorate their contribution to the > Border > region. > > > >From villages and towns such as Berlin, Stutterheim, Breidbach, Potsdam > and > Hamburg, to the distinctive white Eastern Cape accent and shweshwe > fabric, > these settlers have exerted more influence on our neck of the woods than > many people know. > > > "From the historical, agricultural and community development perspective > they had a role to play," said Mark Pautz, a descendant of the German > settlers who has researched his family tree back to the 1700s. > Pautz will be presenting a talk, A Personal Journey through Genealogy, > at > the Amathole Museum in King William's Town today. > "They were brought in by the British colonialists as a buffer in the > Border > wars. The fact that there are places like Berlin in the middle of Africa > is > kind of weird. It adds a bit of colour," he said. > East London historian Dr Keith Tankard said the history of the Germans > was > alive in East London today. "Have you ever noticed the accents of the > whites > in the Eastern Cape? It's what we call the East Cape accent. You go > across > to the West Bank and speak to the children and they've all got a strange > accent. That accent is the remnants of German," he said. > Tankard also said what we know today as shweshwe fabric originated in > Germany and it was later adopted by the Xhosas. > "The original German print would be blue pictures on white cloth but > then it > changed to red and other colours," he said. German surnames are common > in > this part of the Eastern Cape and many people of German descent are not > aware of their roots and family history. One such East Londoner, > Samantha > Kretzmann, was surprised when 200 people turned up at a Kretzmann family > reunion in Gonubie two years ago. > "It was such a magic moment," she said. "The interesting part was to see > all > these people and to see where my history all started." > > Pautz was born in East London in 1961 and grew up listening to stories > about > the family history from his father - former Daily Dispatch journalist > Beau > Pautz. When his father - who had an old sword that a family member had > brought to East London in 1858 - passed away, it was up to him to find > the > missing pieces of the puzzle. > "As a young boy I used to see the War Memorial in King William's Town," > said > Pautz. "The interesting story for me is that my grandfather from my > mother's > side was part of the team that built the memorial ... The brass plaque > of > the memorial had the name William Albert Pautz. He is my great uncle who > died in the First World War. That always fascinated me and I wanted to > know > more about these stories." > > > > According to Tankard, the first group of Germans was brought to the > Eastern > Cape by the Cape Colony's governor, Sir George Grey, as a means of > creating > peace on the frontier by non- military means. He wanted retired military > officers aged about 45 who were married with children, to come to the > region. The idea was to settle these families in villages across British > Kaffraria, to create schools, hospitals and mission stations. Grey > believed > such a move would help convert the Xhosa to western ways and to > Christianity > - and create employment for them. But less than 100 soldiers > volunteered, > says Tankard. > The government was unwilling to provide the money for their immigration. > But > Grey used scare tactics to get it to comply, saying another war with the > Xhosa was imminent. > To make up the numbers, adverts were soon placed in Britain for > thousands of > pensioners to take up the offer - but there were few takers. > So the British sent Grey 2 362 German soldiers, of whom only 362 were > married. These were mercenaries recruited by the British German Legion > during the Crimean War. > > In the Eastern Cape, they separated into three legions: the first went > west > of the Keiskamma River in Hamburg, Wooldridge and Peddie, the second > found a > home in Berlin, Postdam and Breidbach, and the third legion was > stationed in > the Stutterheim area. But Grey still needed women and so followed the > Lady > Kennaway - a ship loaded with single women from Northern Ireland. Only a > few > of them ended up marrying the soldiers as they had little to offer them, > said Tankard. > Grey then created another scheme. > "He arranged with a German company to recruit German peasant farmers. > "He wanted 2000 families a year to be sent out. The advantage is that > they > were farmers," said Tankard. "The legions were made up of soldiers and > they > didn't know how to farm. > "They (peasant farmers) would teach the soldiers how to farm, and would > be > married." > The first ship carrying the peasant farmers, the Caesar Godeffroy, > arrived > on July 7, 1858. > > > > Pautz has discovered that his family arrived on August 28, 1858, on the > La > Rochelle, a ship which sailed with 463 passengers. The three- month > voyage > claimed the lives of 23 passengers - including 17 children and six > adults. > The Pautz family history came to light when he contacted the Amathole > Museum > in King William's Town. > They sent him background information on his family and one of the names > that > cropped up was Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Pautz, who was born in the 1850s > in > Wisbu, Pomerania. He could not, however, locate the place on modern maps > in > the early 1990s when he started his research. > "It took me another 10 years," said Pautz. " I had a German friend at > the > University of Pretoria and we were drinking extensively one night and he > pulled out a pre- Second World War map of Germany. It transpired that > this > place is now in western Poland." > In the 1850s Pomerania was part of Prussia. > Pautz's journey into his family history even took him to Prague in the > Czech > Republic where he lived and found employment. Eventually, he learned > that > his family split in three directions in the 1850s: to South Africa, > France > and America. > In South Africa, Pautz's forefathers lived in Braunschweig, north of > King > William's Town and their gravesites are still in the area. > Recently there have been calls to remove colonial memorials in East > London - > including the German Settlers Memorial on the Esplanade. Pautz, however, > said the removal of the monument would not change history. > "You can remove the statues because they are just symbols but you can't > do > away with history," he said. "That's the underlying factor in it. > Regimes > and symbols come and go. I think we are in a time and a place where we > need > to embrace our own history and not try to pigeon- hole it. > "It's all our history and in it there are common things that bind us > together, whether good or bad. Let's learn from the bad things that have > happened, pick the good things and move ahead." > > Archives - > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/AUS/AUS-QLD-SE-Germans.html > > Quoting the entire text of a previous message in a reply is poor > netiquette. Please don't do it. > > A List for the research for the descendants of the Germans who migrated > to South East Queensland, Australia. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AUS-QLD-SE-GERMANS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message