How did the Germans settle in Australia?

Answer 1

The Germans brought their religion (Christianity, specifically the Lutheran denomination) and their culture to South Australia from the 1830s. They were hard workers who tilled the land tirelessly, working the productive Barossa Valley and also, later, numerous other areas around Australia. They introduced the most productive wine grapes into Australia, and also a variety of foods enjoyed by Australians today.

One of Australia's greatest children's writers, Colin Thiele, was of direct German stock, and influenced the direction of children's literature for many years.

It is unfortunate that, during each of the World Wars, many German-speaking Australians were rounded up and interned in camps, in the belief that they were spies for their homeland. Many were forced to Anglicise their names.

Another lesser-known influence of the Germans in Australia was their work as missionaries to the Aborigines. Whilst the German Lutherans accept responsibility for some of the atrocities perpetrated on the Aboriginal people in the nineteenth century, in the name of "civilising" them, there is a huge chunk of Australian Aboriginal history in which the indigenous people benefitted from the German Lutheran influence.

Answer 2

In the 1800s, under King Friedrich Wilhelm III, German/Prussian Lutherans suffered religious persecution. The German Lutherans were looking to escape the persecution and to go to a country where they had the freedom to worship in their own way. Thanks to a wealthy Scottish businessman and chairman of the South Australian Company, George Fife Angas, a deal was struck by Pastor August Kavel to start a new Lutheran settlement in South Australia. The first group of 21 Lutherans arrived on the ship 'Bengalee' on 18 November 1838, followed two days later by the main group on the 'Prince George'. They first settled at the town of Klemzig. Many more ships followed over the next three years.