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German Australians

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Australians of German ancestry
Regions with significant populations
Adelaide, Barossa Valley, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Melbourne, Sydney
Languages
Australian English, German
Religion
Lutheran, Anglican, Amish, Roman Catholic

German Australians (German: Deutsch-Australier) constitute one of the largest ethnic groups in Australia, numbering 898,700 or 4.5 percent of respondents in the 2011 Census. It is the sixth most identified ancestry in Australia behind 'Australian', 'English, 'Irish, 'Scottish' and 'Italian'. Germans formed the largest non-English-speaking group up to the 20th century.[2] In the period 1795-1918, after the Partitions of Poland, Poles living in the German Prussian Partition travelled with German passports and were registered as Germans.

Demography

People with German ancestry as a percentage of the population in Australia divided geographically by statistical local area, as of the 2011 census.

The 2011 Census counted 108,000 Australian residents who were born in Germany.[1] However, 898,700 persons identified themselves as having German ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry.[1] This number does not include people of German ancestry who selected their ancestry as simply 'Australian'. The 2001 census recorded 103,010 German-born in Australia, although this excludes persons of German ethnicity and culture born elsewhere, such as the Netherlands (1,030), Hungary (660) and Romania (440).

No. of arrivals
July 1949 - June 2000[3]		 July 1949 - June 1959[4] July 1959 - June 1970[5]
Germany 255,930 162,756 50,452
Total settler arrivals 5,640,638 1,253,083 1,445,356
Percentage of settlers from Germany 4.5% 13.0% 3.5%

In December 2001, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that there were 15,000 Australian citizens resident in Germany.[6] It is not clear what proportion of this number are returned emigrants with Australian citizenship or their German Australian children, and what number is simply other Australians in Germany for business or other reasons.

According to the 2001 Census, the Germany-born are more likely than Australians as a whole to live in South Australia (11.9 per cent to 7.6 per cent) and Victoria (27.0 per cent to 24.7 per cent). They are also more likely to live in rural and regional areas. It is probable their German Australian children share this settlement pattern.

According to census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2004, German Australians are, by religion, 21.7 per cent Catholic, 16.5 per cent Anglican, 32.8 per cent Other Christian, 4.2 Other Religions and 24.8 No Religion.

In 2001, the German language was spoken at home by 76,400 persons in Australia. German is the eighth most widely spoken language in the country after English, the Chinese languages, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Vietnamese, Spanish and Tagalog.

Immigration history

Klemzig, the first German settlement in Australia (now a suburb of Adelaide), painted by George French Angas in 1846
Alexander Scramm's A scene in South Australia (1850) depicts German settlers with Aborigines

The Lutheran Pioneers

German religious refugees represented the first major wave of German settlement in Australia, arriving in South Australia in 1838. Some were active as missionaries and explorers in Australia from early in the 19th century, and German prospectors were well represented in the 1850s gold rushes. Most of the early German immigrants were Prussians. In the second half of the century German migrants were prominent in settling the Riverina and Queensland, and there were 45,000 Germans recorded present in Australia by the 1891 census. During the 1870s, a number of East Prussian and Danish Lutherans settled in Tasmania.

Up until World War I, German Australians constituted the largest non-British European ethnic group in Australia.

Fleeing Militarism

Many Germans had emigrated to Australia to flee the rise of militarism and martial chauvinism in the land of their birth. Indeed, "After the Unification of Germany under Prussia in 1870/1871, when Universal Conscription was brought in across all the States of Deutschland, the pattern of emigration from Germany to Australia changed. Instead of the earlier pattern of the majority of settlers arriving in families, young single men started to arrive, young men who were at odds with the increasing militarisation of their Fatherland, and also often at odds with the Rampant Chauvinisation of German Social Life." [7]

The Two World Wars and Their Aftermath

During both World Wars Germans were considered an "enemy within" and a number were interned or deported - or both. The persecution of German Australians also included the closure of German schools, the banning of the German language in government schools, and the renaming of many German place names. To avoid persecution and/or to demonstrate that they commit themselves to their new home, many German Australians changed their names into Anglicised or Francophone variants.

After the Second World War, Australia received a large influx of ethnic German displaced persons and was a significant source of Australia's post war immigrants. In the 1950s and 1960s, German immigration continued under assisted migration programs promoted by the Australian Government. Between June 1949 and July 2000, Germany was the fifth most common birthplace for settler arrivals in Australia after United Kingdom and Ireland, Italy and New Zealand.[3] By 1991, there were 112,000 German-born persons in Australia.

Immigration and Tourism in the Twenty-First Century

Australia has long been a popular destination for German backpacker tourists and students.[8]

The popular German film actress, Sophie Schütt, has lived part-time in Western Australia since 2004 and holds an Australian passport and has done much to promote Australia to German audiences. She has made programmes for German television that promote her adopted homeland. For instance, her n-tv programme, "Das ist mein South Australia" promoted Kangaroo Island, Adelaide and the Barossa region to Germans. She followed it with "Das ist mein Western Australia". Additionally, Schütt's fictional feature film, "Himmel über Australien" was set on the continent.

German Australian Culture

German settled regions in Australia include South Australia (particularly the Barossa Valley region), Queensland (Sunshine Coast hinterland), and Tasmania, where German immigrants settled in the farming district of Bismark (renamed Collinsvale during the First World War.)

The Lutheran Church of Australia is present in each State but is strongest in South Australia and Queensland. There are a number of Lutheran-run high schools in these two States.

The Goethe-Institut is active in Australia, there are branches in Melbourne and Sydney.[9]

Notable Australians of German ancestry

Bettina Arndt 1949 Sexologist and critic of feminism Born in the United Kingdom German father
Heinz Arndt 1915 Economist Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Shaun Berrigan 1978 Rugby League player Born in Australia German ancestry
Henry Bolte 1908 Politician (Premier of Victoria) Born in Australia German ancestry
Dieter Brummer 1976 Soap opera actor Born in Australia German ancestry
Ernest Burgmann 1885 Anglican bishop and social justice activist Born in Australia German ancestry
Meredith Burgmann 1947 Politician (Australian Labor Party) Born in Australia German ancestry
Wolfgang Degenhardt 1924 Artist Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Carl Ditterich 1945 Australian rules footballer Born in Australia German ancestry
Andrew Ettinghausen 1965 Rugby League player Born in Australia German ancestry
Harry Frei 1951 Cricketer Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Gotthard Fritzsche 1797 Lutheran pastor Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Ken Grenda Businessman and philanthropist Born in Australia German ancestry
Michael Grenda 1964 Olympic cyclist Born in Australia German ancestry
Andre Haermeyer 1956 Politician (Australian Labor Party) Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Heinrich Haussler 1984 Cyclist Born in Australia German ancestry
George Heinz 1891 Australian rules footballer Born in Australia German ancestry
Hans Heysen 1877 Landscape artist Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Ben Hilfenhaus 1983 Cricketer Born in Australia German ancestry
Bert Hinkler 1892 Aviator Born in Australia German ancestry
Hermann Homburg 1874 Politician Born in Australia German ancestry
August Kavel 1798 Lutheran pastor Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Kristina Keneally 1968 Politician (Premier of New South Wales) Emigrated to Australian from the United States German ancestry
Gerard Krefft 1830 Zoologist and paleontologist Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Dichen Lachman 1982 Actress and producer Raised in Adelaide, Australia Born in Nepal to a German Australian father
Ludwig Leichhardt 1813 Explorer Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Darren Lehmann 1970 Cricketer Born in Australia German ancestry
Carl Linger 1810 Composer Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Stewart Loewe 1968 Australian rules footballer Born in Australia German ancestry
Bertha McNamara 1853 Socialist and feminist Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Ferdinand von Mueller 1825 Botanist, geologist and physician Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
David Neitz 1975 Australian rules footballer Born in Australia German ancestry
Nadine Neumann 1975 Olympic swimmer Born in Australia German ancestry
Hubert Opperman 1904 Cyclist and politician Born in Australia German ancestry
Arthur Phillip 1738 First Governor of New South Wales Emigrated to Australia German father
Ingo Rademacher 1971 Soap opera actor Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Nick Riewoldt 1982 Australian rules footballer Born in Australia German ancestry
Hermann Sasse 1895 Lutheran theologian Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Chris Schacht 1946 Politician (Australian Labor Party) and mining company director Born in Australia German ancestry
Manfred Schäfer 1943 Football (soccer) player Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Jessicah Schipper 1986 Olympic swimmer Born in Australia German ancestry
Melanie Schlanger 1986 Olympic swimmer Born in Australia German ancestry
de:Sophie Schütt 1974 Film and television actress Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Mark Schwarzer 1972 Football (soccer) player Born in Australia German ancestry
Emily Seebohm 1992 Olympic swimmer Born in Australia German ancestry
Gert Sellheim 1901 Artist Emigrated to Australia Born in Lithuania to ethnically-German parents
Wayne Sievers 1957 Politician (Australian Democrats) and social justice activist Born in Australia German ancestry
Wolfgang Sievers 1913 Photographer Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Christian Sprenger 1985 Olympic swimmer Born in Australia German ancestry
Carl Strehlow 1871 Lutheran missionary Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Ted Strehlow 1908 Anthropologist Born in Australia German ancestry
Matthias Ungemach 1968 Olympic rower Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Shane Warne 1974 Cricketer Born in Australia German mother
Chris Watson 1867 Prime Minister of Australia Emigrated to Australia Born in Chile to ethnically-German father
Shane Webcke 1974 Rugby League player Born in Australia German ancestry
Judith Zeidler 1968 Olympic rower Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Markus Zusak 1975 Writer Born in Australia German ancestry

See also

Template:European Australian

References

  1. ^ a b c "Reflecting a Nation: Stories from the 2011 Census, 2012–2013". 2011 Census. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2013-03-14. Total count of persons: 19,855,288.
  2. ^ G. Leitner, Australia's Many Voices: Australian English--The National Language, 2004, p. 181
  3. ^ a b "Immigration: Federation to Century's End 1901–2000" (pdf (64 pages)). Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. 2001. p. page 25. Retrieved 2008-07-21. {{cite web}}: |page= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs: Settler arrivals by birthplace data not available prior to 1959. For the period July 1949 to June 1959, Permanent and Long Term Arrivals by Country of Last Residence have been included as a proxy for this data. When interpreting this data for some countries, it should be noted that in the period immediately after World War II, there were large numbers of displaced persons whose country of last residence was not necessarily the same as their birthplace.
  5. ^ Note this period covers 11 years rather than a decade.
  6. ^ "Estimates of Australian Citizens Living Overseas as at December 2001" (PDF). Southern Cross Group (DFAT data). 2001-02-14. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  7. ^ http://germanaustralianalianstomilitarism.blogspot.com
  8. ^ http://www.germany.embassy.gov.au/beln/home.html
  9. ^ http://www.goethe.de/ins/au/lp/enindex.htm?wt_sc=australia
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