Germans in the Pacific

Did you know that the German settlers around Nelson originally arrived in the hope of settling in what they thought would be a new German colony in the Chatham Islands? Or that in 1900 half the European population in Tonga was German?

© Wendy Thomson

Tracing this far-flung German presence in the Pacific has been of interest to Professor James Bade for over 20 years, and on 23 April he gave us an engrossing overview of his research, in a presentation called “German Interest in the Pacific 1840-1918 with Special Reference to Tonga”.  

James is Professor of German and Director of the University of Auckland Research Centre for Germanic Connections with New Zealand and the Pacific at the University of Auckland. 

One of his publications, Zehn Jahre auf den Inseln der Südsee 1887-1897: Aus dem Tagebuch der Paula David, was offered for sale to members and guests after the presentation. Paula David was from a German Jewish family in Sondershausen in Thuringia, but spent a decade in Tonga and Samoa before eventually moving to Australia. Meanwhile several of her siblings settled in Auckland, followed several decades later by other family members fleeing Nazi Germany. This critical edition (in English and German) of Paula David's diaries from her time in the Pacific includes many photos from her own collection, as well as fascinating background chapters on her family history and the links between Germany and Tonga.

Felix Delbrück

Lectures on Alexander von Humboldt and W. G. Sebald

The Auckland Goethe Society was very fortunate to host two guests from the University of Washington, Seattle in March. 

Internationally renowned specialist in German colonialism, Professor Sabine Wilke gave a very interesting lecture entitled “Von Humboldt: Mapping and Envisioning Geographic Spaces” on 18 March. The following week we heard from Professor Richard Gray, who is a world authority on nineteenth and twentieth century German literature. Richard gave a most informative address entitled “Fabulation and Metahistory: W.G. Sebald and Contemporary German Holocaust Fiction”.

We are grateful to Auckland Goethe Society member and former president Professor James Bade for inviting these two leading researchers and scholars to speak to us.  It is wonderful to have these opportunities to broaden our horizons and to meet such interesting people as Sabine and Richard. 

Wendy Thomson

An intercultural video exchange

Judith Geare, from the Goethe-Institut, and three Auckland school students were our guest speakers for a great start to the Auckland Goethe Society’s 2015 programme on 18 February. 

We heard about their recent project, an exchange between these Takapuna Grammar School students of German and students in Senegal, Mexico and Germany. The start of the project was an intensive week in 2013 with two visiting German sociologist film-makers, who taught the basics of film-making. The outcome was two short films about the teenagers’ lives – films which the students exchanged with students in Senegal and Mexico who then sent feed-back, questions and their own films to the Aucklanders.  

© Judith Geare

It was great to see excerpts from the films, and to hear from the students in person how this project had given real meaning to their study of German (German was the language of communication between the students from the countries) and also about the effect this cross-cultural project has had on their lives.

Many thanks to Judith Geare, teacher Elisabeth Avram and students Tina Price, Pip Charlett-Green and Holly Sharplin.

Wendy Thomson

A special Christmas musical event

The Auckland Goethe Society’s 2014 Christmas event was a very special and enjoyable one - four singers from the early music group ‘Age of Discovery’ sang a special repertoire for a gathering of about 30 society members and friends.  Included were modern songs, renaissance pieces and of course some German Weihnachtslieder.

Luana Prictor, student of German and Classical Performance Voice at The University of Auckland, introduced the items, which were performed by herself (soprano), Wendy Chen (alto), tenor Lachlan Craig (tenor) and Warren Kilham (bass).

Many of us were so taken by the beauty of the singing that we went the following week to the full choir Age of Discovery’s performance “Celebration of Carols” at St Patricks Cathedral. Magnificent evenings, both of them!

Wendy Thomson

© Astrid Wolter

How to succeed in the globalised job market - panel discussion and networking event

Three professional experts from DB Schenker NZ and Turners&Growers came to University of Auckland City Campus for a panel discussion and Q&A with students, on what they expect from graduates applying for a job with an international company. Followed by drinks and German pretzels, the event went on until 8.30pm, and the students had a great many questions for the professional experts and the representatives from the German Chamber of Commerce and the German Embassy. The event was co-organised by the Auckland Goethe Society, the NZGBA, the DAAD, and the German Embassy.

Auckland Goethe Society Exams Prizegiving 2014

© Astrid Wolter

About 300 school students from the greater Auckland area took part in the in the 64th Auckland Goethe Society exams, our annual German language competition. Congratulations to Andrew Thompson, from Westlake Boys' High School, who was placed first, and to all those who took part!

We wholeheartedly agree with Dr Anna Bauer, DAAD representative, who spoke at the prizegiving: „Speaking more than one language is simply really good for the brain - getting into the nitty-gritty of another language also makes you understand your native language better.” And “there are tons of opportunities with German”!

Goethe's birthday!

© Wendy Thomson

To celebrate our namesake's 265th birthday, we screened the film Goethe! by Philipp Stölzl. For those of you who missed it, you can watch a trailer here. 

Herzlichen Glückwunsch, Johann Wolfgang!

German Samoa, 1900-1914

© Astrid Wolter

August 2014 was the 100 year anniversary not just of the beginning of World War I, but of the end of German rule of Western Samoa. We were delighted to have Ulli Weissbach speaking about Samoa's 14 years as a German colony.

Ulli Weissbach is a TV producer and director of PACIFICA Productions, specialising in documentaries and other media productions on the South Pacific. Based in Auckland, PACIFICA produces programmes for European broadcasters including ARD, ZDF, Arte, 3sat.