Nieder - Weiselens in AustraliaPrint Page

The replica of the plaque dedicated in 2010 in the Lutheran Church grounds in Neider-Weisel, Germany, commemorates those who emigrated to Australia in the 1800's. This was due to the work of Kelvin Williams in Australia who had researched and written up the history of each person and family in both Victoria and in Nieder-Weisel.

To commemorate this shift of people and the contribution that they made to Australian society, a group of passionate Australians and locals from Nieder-Weisel raised funds and erected a memorial plaque in the garden at the 12th century Nieder-Weisel Church. The plaque was dedicated on Sunday 3rd October 2010, as part of a weekend of  celebrations.  The replica plaque at Smythesdale was dedicated at a ceremony on the 20th January 2013.  

The largest number of people to emigrate to Australia from any town in what is now Germany came to Victoria from Nieder-Weisel in the 1800's, a Lutheran village in the Country called Hesse. Nieder-Weisel had been mainly a fabric producing cottage industry village for ages. Now the English production of steam engines and big factories put the cottage industries out of business.

When news of the gold rushes came, many of the Nieder-Weisel folk made their way to England to catch 37 different ships to Melbourne in the 1850's. Others left on eight different ships from Hamburg. From Melbourne they walked to the goldfields, where they suffered difficulties and tragedies trying to survive and buy land.

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