Winkler Generations
Germany as a nation didn’t exist until 1871. For many centuries it was part of the Holy Roman Empire, a political conglomeration of lands in western and central Europe in the middle ages. Germanic tribes were mentioned in Roman times but generally the year 911, when Conrad I became King of the German Holy Roman Empire, is recognized as the beginning of the first “Germany.” The next four centuries saw German borders pushed eastwards until powerful Slav tribes halted the progress in the 14th century. Although there continued to be clashes between the Roman emperors and the local princes during the 14th and 15th centuries, there was a growth in the prosperity and culture of the German people.
However, in the 16th century, a Catholic monk, Martin Luther (1483-1546) challenged the authority of the Roman Pope in Germany and began a push for church reform. The Roman Emperor, Charles V (1519-1556), supported the Pope and condemned Luther, but the German Princes were loyal to the doctrines (beliefs) of Luther. The farmers and working classes took up his teachings and hoped to end the domination of the church and nobles. Religious wars escalated and were to last for over 20 years.
When the wars ended the country was split into 300 separate territories. Two separate Protestant churches resulted – the Lutheran Church, formed by followers of Martin Luther and the Reformed or Calvinist Church, based on the teachings of John Calvin. Calvinist’s were originally Lutherans who developed independent doctrine influenced by many writers and reformers including John Calvin, |
Unification and Persecution
The Kingdom of Prussia existed from 1701 to 1918 comprising at one time almost two-thirds of the German Empire including Brandenburg, Silesia and Posen. The Lutheran church was the dominant religion in Prussia. King Friedrich Wilhelm III (1797-1840) was of the Calvinist faith and wished to bring about unification between the two churches. With all good intentions, he issued a proclamation in 1817 calling on all Protestants to set aside their religious difference. The Lutheran Worship book was rewritten and significant alterations were inserted. While the majority of his subjects accepted this call for unification, a small minority of Lutherans refused to join the new Union Church. The Old-Lutherans, as they were known, found the new regulations for worship unacceptable. They maintained their traditional beliefs and continued to practice their own teachings.
Their continued resistance led to a further decree in 1830 ordering that all Lutherans must use the new State Church prayer book (Agende). Those who did not obey this order could be fined, imprisoned or have their belongings confiscated. |
A period of brutal oppression and religious persecution followed. Ministers who did not conform were dismissed. Places of worship were compulsorily acquired by the state. Those Lutherans who refused to adopt the Agende were forced to hold secret prayer meetings at night and hide from the police. Eventually for the sake of their faith, the Old-Lutherans were forced to flee their homeland.
George Fife Angas
George Fife Angas was born in England in 1789. His business and banking interests made him a comparatively wealthy man. In 1832, anxious to use his wealth wisely, he became interested in a proposal by the South Australia Land Company for the foundation of South Australia. Unfortunately the Company folded when it failed to get Government support. However Angas' continued interest in establishing South Australia as a free colony, together with his moral and religious views led him to be appointed as a South Australian Colonization Commissioner in 1835. In 1836, as Chairman and founder of the South Australia Company, he recruited men with similar views and set out to purchase land and establish financial interests in the new colony.
A Land Fund – The Wakefield Plan - was established to help finance the settlement. Hoping to entice Free Settlers to South Australia, the fund aimed to assist potential migrants financially, both with their passage and during their first few years in the new colony. |
Pastor Kavel
In 1826 August Ludwig Christian Kavel (1798- 1860) was appointed pastor of the congregation of Klemzig in Brandenburg. At first Pastor Kavel accepted the doctrines of the new Union Church, but eventually he returned to the strict Lutheran faith. The Klemzig congregation petitioned the King to recognize them as Old-Lutheran but to no avail. In 1836, at the urging of his congregation, Pastor Kavel traveled to Hamburg to make inquiries as to the possibility of emigrating to America or some other country where they could be free to worship as they chose.
In Hamburg, Kavel was given the name of an Englishman who might help. Pastor Kavel immediately set out for London to meet with George Fife Angas. Impressed by the reported hard-working farming people and sympathetic to their religious plight, Angas felt that the Prussian Lutherans were ideally suited for the planned Colonization of South Australia. He proceeded to do everything he could to arrange the emigration.
It took another two years of struggle before the Prussian Government finally gave the Old-Lutherans permission to emigrate. At last, at the end of January 1838, permission was granted for 165 people to emigrate provided that they met certain conditions. Firstly a Pastor of their faith must accompany them; secondly the men must have completed service in the Prussian Army and lastly, that evidence in writing was provided that they were assured of the means to earn a living in the new Colony. |
However The South Australia Company felt that they were unable to meet the conditions of the Prussian Government and were no longer in a position to assist financially. Angas convinced the authorities that work would be available and, after exhausting all other possible avenues, decided to advance the funds to the emigrants from this own pocket.
Hamburg
Emigrants from most European nations usually made their way to British ports of Departure. In Germany, however, because of the large number of emigrants leaving Germany, use of their own ships was warranted. At first the main port of departure in Germany was Bremen. Good profits were to be made in the port. The emigrants needed lodging houses and food supplies before departure and ships had to purchase large quantities of food. The shipping trade provided good business for sail makers and other trades connected with shipping.
In 1837, Hamburg, wanting to reap some of the profits, began to entice emigrants to their port. The Hamburg City Council published a decree regarding the conditions on board the ships – sufficient space must be provided for each passenger, the size of the bunks was regulated, as was the quantity of provisions. Hamburg ships advertised their crossings. The best quality food and drink would be supplied and in sufficient quantities to last for the duration of the voyage. Passengers would not lack for anything. Unfortunately, government regulations for the inspection of emigrant ships were barely enforced because of the lack of officers.
Also there were no regulations in place for the emigrant’s treatment during their stay in Hamburg until the Association for the Protection of Emigrants was founded in 1850. The unsuspecting emigrants were often victims of fraud by landlords, money changers and supply stores.
Also there were no regulations in place for the emigrant’s treatment during their stay in Hamburg until the Association for the Protection of Emigrants was founded in 1850. The unsuspecting emigrants were often victims of fraud by landlords, money changers and supply stores.
Departure
Events moved quickly now and in June 1838, the emigrants, who now numbered 200, began to leave their villages by barge to travel to the Port of Hamburg. The ship Prince George was provisioned and readied for departure.
Only 189 of the Prussian passengers could be accommodated aboard the Prince George, so another ship, the Bengalee, a Scottish Merchant ship, took the remaining passengers.
The Prince George departed Hamburg early on Sunday 8th July 1838 and set sail for Plymouth where Pastor Kavel was to join them. The Bengalee left two days later. At Plymouth harbour, George Fife Angas came to visit with the Lutheran emigrants and to bid them farewell. His agent, Charles Flaxman, who was fluent in the German language, accompanied the Prince George as Angas’ representative. Eventually, after a delay because of poor weather, the ship left Plymouth and set sail for Australia. It would have been with mixed emotions that the emigrants finally boarded their ships. They were severing ties with their homeland and their loved ones, probably forever. They had a long and dangerous journey half way around the world ahead of them. |
Conditions aboard Emigrant Ships
Steerage passengers were herded into dark and narrow steerage decks with barely enough room for a man to stand upright. Bunks were stacked one on top of another on either side of the deck leaving the centre free for long tables and benches used for eating. As quite often more passengers than were officially allowed were taken on board, the food supplies were not sufficient. From diaries and letters written by migrants on other ships, hunger, overcrowding and sea- sickness made conditions on board exceedingly difficult and uncomfortable.
Until 1858 when an inquiry into emigration from Germany was conducted in Sydney, German ships quite often avoided the extra expense of carrying a qualified surgeon on board. The lack of qualified medical care would only have added to the passenger’s woes. Diseases such as cholera, typhus and smallpox were rife and could spread quickly. Those who did not survive the journey were buried at sea.
German ships were not subject to British Law and were run according to German practices at sea – segregation of the sexes was not one of the German practices. Confined for months on end at sea with little or no privacy and the constant fear of disease, starvation or even shipwreck, it is little wonder that at the 1858 inquiry in Sydney, shocking tales were told of innocent young girls being prostituted by the crew.
German ships were not subject to British Law and were run according to German practices at sea – segregation of the sexes was not one of the German practices. Confined for months on end at sea with little or no privacy and the constant fear of disease, starvation or even shipwreck, it is little wonder that at the 1858 inquiry in Sydney, shocking tales were told of innocent young girls being prostituted by the crew.
The Journey
Most of the passengers on board the Prince George were troubled by seasickness at first, but they soon got used to the conditions. Thankfully the ships had been well provisioned and those on board did not suffer from hunger or thirst. Indeed, most appear to have experienced a remarkably comfortable journey. Despite the Prince George being caught in a fierce storm near Africa, both ships progressed rapidly towards Adelaide. After a voyage lasting 4 ½ months, the Prince George arrived at Port Adelaide on 18th November 1838. The Bengalee had arrived two days earlier. Sixteen passengers had died on the journey, fourteen of them on the Prince George, two on the Bengalee .