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Nieder - Weiselens in AustraliaPrint Page Print this page

20-January-2013
20-January-2013

Photographs supplied by Dr Ross Bastiaan / Sandra Brown

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.

Location

Address:Brooke Street (Glenelg Highway), Smythesdale, 3351
State:VIC
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -37.64468
Long: 143.685106
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Plaque
Monument Theme:Landscape
Sub-Theme:Settlement
Designer:Dr Ross Bastiaan
Monument Manufacturer:Dr Ross Bastiaan

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Sunday 20th January, 2013
Front Inscription

Nieder - Weiselens in Australia

(History in German and English)

(Plaque inscription in German and English)

This plaque was funded by Australian descendants and erected in Nieder-Wiesel in memory of their adventurous German ancestors. 

Co-ordinator, Don Hauser, Melbourne

The research of the Nieder - Wiesel families who migrated to Australia in the nineteenth century is wholly attributed to the work of the late Kelvin Williams, Queensland, Australia.

Adami + Bang + Bill + Bodenroder + Broek + Dern + Dilges + Fett + Giebel + Gerlach + Giehl + Haintz + Haub + Hauser + Heinz + Hildebrand + Henkelmann + Hopton + Jung + Kissler + Klein + Klippel + Klos + Knipper + Koch + Kohler + Krausgrill + Leichner + Lemp + Lenz + Loh + Maas + Matthaus + Muller + Plough + Ruess + Reuter + Richter +  Riegelhuth + Rumpff + Schimpf + Schmidt + Seip + Studt + Volk + Vorbach + Wetzel + Wilhelmi+ Winter + Worner + Zeiss + Ziegler + Zimmer

Plaque constructed by Ross J. Bastiann © 2011

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au