The Fehmarn Cousins Newsletter
Issue #12 June, 2000
Y2 Germany Trip
We learned of Dorothee Gossel's Y 2 Germany trip here on John
Kostick's website. We e-mailed Dorothee and learned that she is located at
Good Hope, Illinois, just a few miles from our home in Bettendorf, Iowa.
We met with Dorothee, and others interested in going to Germany, at her home in
November, 1999. Most tour groups do not go to Fehmarn Island. We
wanted to go there because Cal's grandfather, Henry Mildt (Milz) was born on the
island at Danschendorf. We thought Dorothee was very capable of being our
guide and we would have some fun, so we said we were ready to go.
Since this website is about Fehmarn Island, I will not go into details on all
the places we visited from Munich, to Hamburg, to Frankfurt. However, I
must mention that Dorothee's daughter, Helen, and her friend Patrick, a fellow
student at the University of Bamberg, joined our group at Bamberg and
traveled with us to Fehmarn Island. We traveled by train to Hamburg and
boarded a bus to Grossenbrode where we stayed four nights. At
Grossenbrode,
our hotel Am Wind, Am Kai, located on the Baltic Sea near the Fehmarnsund bridge, is owned and operated by Dorothee's niece. After a stroll along
the seashore, we enjoyed a good dinner at the sparkling clean and beautifully
decorated hotel. Dorothee's parents, sister and brother-in-law and his
mother, nieces and parents-in-law joined us. There was much laughter and
toasting!
Tuesday morning we boarded a bus and crossed the bridge to the island. The
bridge was completed in 1963. What a thrill to finally be on Fehmarn
Island. We learned that land on the island is very much desired as many foreigners
want to buy land or houses on Fehmarn. There are many summer
homes and people come there for the week-end. The island is very flat, the
highest point is 100 feet.
We drove through the villages to a harbor. We stopped at a smoke house
where different varieties of fish, including eel, were being smoked. At
Petersdorf we visited the Johanniskirche. The cemetery in the churchyard
was full of flowers. We took some photos of stones with surnames that are
in Cal's family. We stopped in Danschendorf, where Cal's grandfather was
born. In the distance we could see the Wind Park with the windmills and also an
old fashioned windmill. At the seashore we saw freighters in the Baltic
Sund, a busy shipping channel. It was very windy and the waves were high.
In Burg we had lunch at a cafe-restaurant in Stolz Department Store. We
visited the bank to exchange travellers checks for marks and shopped in the
little shops.
Later in the afternoon we boarded our bus which took us to Landkirchen where we
visited St. Petri Kirche dating from 1230. Mrs. Karin Kleingarn explained
the history of the island and the church to us. She told us of the
paintings of the founders and artifacts that are in the church. Then it
was time for dinner and we crossed the street to the Aalhuus restaurant for a
good fish dinner. We were entertained by ladies in costume who graciously
came to dance especially for us. The restaurant was formerly an old barn
which has been restored.
On Wednesday, farmers from the island picked us up, in private vehicles, at the
hotel to show us their machinery, barns, and even their lovely homes. This was a
special tour as they were so gracious and friendly. Then they took us to
Puttgarden where we met again as a group to take the ferry, "Schleswig-Holstein"
to Denmark. We stayed on the ferry for lunch and returned to Puttgarden.
Once again the bus picked us up and we went to Burg where we visited the Burger
Rathaus (townhall) and were welcomed by Mr. Uwe Hardt. We made the front
page of the "Fehmarnsches Tagebeatt" as a reporter/photographer was
there to take a group photo and get our impressions of the island.
Back on the bus, we stopped to see Dorothee's Uncle Jacob. He showed us
how the cabbage crop is stored. Then we went to Irmgard and Karl Gossel's
home for a warm welcome and lovely dinner. They are Dorothee's parents
in-law. We also met Dorothee's Uncle Georg and enjoyed some lively
conversation as his English is about the same as our German. We were
delighted to be served "Futjen" as dessert. This has always been
our Christmas Eve treat. Irmgard drops the batter into hot oil to fry and we fry
ours in a Futjen pan. Dorothee explained that the custom there is to serve
Futjen at harvest time. There were also "Kisses", a meringue
cookie that Cal's mother used to make. More laughter, toasting and picture
taking and it was time to say thank you to the Gossels and auf widersehen to
Fehmarn Island as we crossed the bridge back to the mainland.
On Thursday some people did family research and the rest went by bus to Lubeck.
On Friday we went by bus to Hamburg. From Hamburg we took the train to
Mainz with stops in between. On Sunday we took a boat ride on the Rhine
River and visited a winery. The next day we took a bus to Frankfort and
boarded our flight back to Chicago. Dorothee is an excellent guide and we
got to meet people and do things that would not have been possible without her.
Everyone stayed well and we all got home safely. Thank you Dorothee.
-Ruth Mildt
Leaving for Fehmarn
Well today I am very busy packing my suitcase and preparing to leave on my second trip to Fehmarn. My sister and I will leave from the airport in Miami tomorrow about noon to arrive in Hamburg the following morning.
Tressie Hughes our editor has already left from Washington State with her husband Alan and will meet us at the airport in Hamburg. This is Tressie first trip and is very excited about the adventure.
I will of course respond to all the request in my email when I return. And hopefully will have new information for many after I visit the archive in Neustadt.
John Kostick, web owner
To Bendigo and a new Life…
Bendigo
is a beautiful provincial city situated approximately100 miles (150kms) north of
Melbourne and is practically in the centre of the State of Victoria.
Bendigo was originally known as Sandhurst.
Almost
one hundred and fifty years have passed since 1851 when a shepherd tending his
flock at Ravenswood, Bendigo in the colony of Victoria, found a glittering
nugget of gold.[i]
The 1850s were the gold rush years attracting many thousands of people to
the goldfields of Bendigo, Ballarat, Mount Alexander, Woods Point and other
locations in the newly proclaimed colony of Victoria.
Early mining was very much alluvial followed by quartz reef mines.
Bendigo still has a working mine: the Central Deborah Gold Mine.
Cusack
(1971) wrote in his book, Bendigo, a history, “Bendigo might well be
said to have been the rallying – point of German diggers who were the most
numerous group of mainland Europeans on the field and the most influential.”[ii]
News of the gold rushes in Australia and in particular, Bendigo must
have reached the people on the Island of Fehmarn, some of whom were enticed to
emigrate and start a new life in the colonies.
Some tried their luck on the goldfields!
In
Bendigo, the German Chapter, a book published by the German Heritage
Society of Bendigo Inc. (1998) the section entitled “The Community” records
biographical details of twenty-six immigrants from Fehmarn:
Hans
Nicolaus Fick (1836-83) b. Susdorf arrived in Melbourne, August 1853 on
the ship Daniel Ross. He became a landowner and merchant-draper.
On
the 25th August 1854, the ship Java arrived in Melbourne.
Its passengers included fourteen from Fehmarn.
One of the passengers, Jörgen Kleingarn (1834-1906) a carpenter from Dänschendorf,
travelled to Bendigo, became a miner and resided at Golden Gully, Bendigo.
Another
passenger on board the Java was Jacob Mackeprang, a landmann (farmer)
from Dänschendorf. Whilst Bendigo,
the German Chapter does not provide any biographical details of Jacob, he is
listed in the German Claim Holders section with interests in four mining claims.
Carl
Heinrich Wendel (1836-1913) a carpenter, b. Petersdorf arrived in
Melbourne 3rd August 1855 on the ship Neumuhlen.
He worked as digger on the Bendigo goldfields before purchasing land in
1860 at Colbinabbin, about forty kilometres from Bendigo.
Carl was naturalised in 1860, his application for naturalisation giving
the reason as being desirous of becoming a “bona fide” colonist and
landowner.
Two
of Carl’s friends from the goldfields, Henning Rathjen (b. Homfeld,
Schleswig Holstein) and Heinrich Bockholt (b. Holstein) also bought land
at Colbinabbin.
Joachim
Wendel (1840-72) b Petersdorf, Carl’s brother joined him circa 1857. Carl and Joachim’s youngest brother, (Jürgen) Georg
(1843-91) b Petersdorf, and their cousin Doris Wendel (1839-78) b.
Petersdorf arrived in Melbourne August 1859 on the ship Linda. On the 10th August 1861, Doris Wendel married
Heinrich Schutt (1827-1919) b. Holstein, who was a puddler on the
goldfields.
Joachim
and Georg took up farming at Colbinabbin, as did their parents, Joachim snr.
(1801-72) b. Petersdorf, and Maria Carlsen (1801-90) after their arrival
circa 1872.
Two
of Hans Nicolaus Fick’s sisters, Anna Margaretha Christiana (1835-81) b.
Sulsdorf and Louise (1838-1919) b. Sulsdorf arrived in Melbourne together
on the 10th January 1858 on the ship Magdalena.
Louise married Carl Wendel in 1861 and moved to Colbinabbin and in 1862
Anna married Johannes Weppner (from Seeburg, Germany) another early Colbinabbin
settler.
Heinrich
Daniel Vadersen (1842-1930) b. Petersdorf, arrived in Melbourne on the 28th
July 1858 on the ship Neumuhlen. Heinrich
was the eldest son and left three brothers behind in Fehmarn.
Another brother, Wilhelm Ferdinand was born after he left.
Heinrich married Mary Jane Treloar at the Lutheran Church, Sandhurst on
the 28th July 1877.
Heinrich
Gottsche (Gotch) (1833-91) arrived in Melbourne on 25th January 1861
on the ship, Victoria. Heinrich
was a miner and musician. Joachim
Gottsche, probably a brother of Heinrich arrived circa 1861/2.
Later in 1861 Jürgen Lafrenz (1836-1915) b. Petersdorf arrived in
Melbourne on the ship Result. Jürgen’s
occupations included being a farmer on Fehmarn and in Australia he was a miner
and mining investor. Jurgen was
also closely associated with the early Lutheran Church at Sandhurst.
Amalia
Fick (1841-69) b. Sulsdorf, a sister of Hans Nicolaus, Anna and Louise
Fick arrived in Melbourne, 1864 on the ship Tony.
In the following year, 1865, Amalia married Henning Staben, a friend and
neighbour of her brother-in-law Carl Wendel.
In
1868, Catherina Margaretha Fick (nee Kleingarn) (1809-89) b. Sulsdorf, a
widow, and the mother of Hans Nicolaus, Anna, Louise and Amalia, arrived in
Melbourne on the ship White Star with three more of her surviving eight
children: Doris Fick (1842-1905), b. Sulsdorf, George S Fick (1851-99) b.
Sulsdorf and Hans Fick (1848-88) b. Sulsdorf. George became a farmer and Hans a publican, storekeeper,
owner of ‘Drovers Arms’ Hotel and Store at Goornong near Bendigo.
The
last member of the Fick family to arrive was Caroline (1845-c.79/80) a widow,
from America on the Benjamen Aymer in 1873.
Other
emigrants from Fehmarn include: Ernst Christian Buegge (Bügge) (1852-1929) b.
Vitzdorf, arrived in Melbourne in 1869 on the ship Bucton Castle,
occupations were a miner and farmer (Colbinabbin); Peter John Fick
(c.1847-1883); and members of the Meier family: Agnes (1838-) b. Sulsdorf,
Dorothea (1848-1914) b. Petersdorf and George Heinrich (1843-84) b.
Sulsdorf. In 1869 Dorothea married
Friedrich J.L. Toedteberg, a German immigrant from Hanover.
They settled on a farm at Colbinabbin.
A
much later immigrant from Fehmarn was my great grandfather Wilhelm Ferndinand
Vadersen (1858-1916) b. Dänschendorf who arrived in Melbourne February
1881on the ship, Cuzco. Wilhelm
headed for Bendigo, to meet for the first time his eldest brother Heinrich who
had left Germany (Denmark at the time) at the age of sixteen and just five days
before Wilhelm’s birth on the 20th April 1858.
Family legend says that the brothers at first were unable to understand
each other – perhaps Wilhelm had learn a different version of German after
Bismark gained control of Holstein in 1864.
Heinrich
had settled at Golden Gully, Bendigo with his wife Mary Jane Treloar and their
children. Heinrich worked as a
carter and he also held some gold mining claims:
Denne’s Reef co. (20/03/1865) at Dennes, Jarran & Co. (20/01/1872)
at Hamburg Flat, and Jarran & Co. (2/10/1871) Hamburgh.
Heinrich had leased crown land at Lockwood, Bendigo (later taken over by
Wilhelm). In 1893 he was
naturalised. Heinrich and Mary
celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1927.
He died in 1930.
Wilhelm spent some
time in Golden Gully, but by 1885 he had a boot maker shop in Elmore, about
forty miles from Bendigo. In the
January of 1885 he married Mary Ann Kilkenny.
Mary Ann’s sister Bridget had married in 1872 an immigrant from Fehmarn,
George Wendel.
Wilhelm
and Mary Ann did not remain at Elmore very long but moved further north into the
outback area of New South Wales to Til Til a large property near Hatfield where
Wilhelm worked as a boundary rider until circa 1899.
Four daughters were born during this period.
When they returned to Bendigo Wilhelm set up a farm at Lockwood by first
taking over his brother Heinrich’s land and then he gradually expanded the
size of his farm by taking up adjacent crown leases. Three more children were born during the 1890s, another
daughter and two sons. Wilhelm was
naturalised in 1907.
In
1910 Wilhelm took on a new business venture as proprietor of the Central Coffee
Palace, in Hargreaves Street, Bendigo and behind the very large and impressive
Shamrock Hotel. ‘Coffee
Palaces’ were widespread across Victoria and had been introduced to provide an
alternative to the hotels where “travellers could stay without being tempted
by the demon drink.”[iii]
Wilhelm’s daughters assisted him in the running of the Coffee Palace;
his eldest daughter, Cartrinna (my grandmother) was the manager, other daughters
carried out the tasks of cooking and waiting.
Mary Ann and their sons remained at the Lockwood farm.
The farm most likely provided supplies for the Coffee Palace.
After
the outbreak of World War 1, Wilhelm who still had a very strong German accent
returned to the farm at Lockwood. Perhaps
this was to escape the rising anti-German sentiment.
He died in 1916. His
daughter, Cartrinna and her husband took over the management of the Coffee
Palace.
Many
Germans established businesses in Bendigo and the surrounding districts. These businesses included hotels, bakeries, butchers and
other trades. Some became vignerons and produced excellent wines; some pioneered
the development of the local eucalyptus industry.
German migrants were represented in the professions including medicine,
dentistry, and architects. They
contributed to the music and arts.
A
branch of the Deutscher Verein club was established and operated at first from
the Black Swan Hotel and later the Eurpoean Hotel.
The Deutscher Verein club provided opportunities for the German
immigrants to meet with their countrymen, exchange news and read newspapers from
the home country. It also
distributed relief amongst fellow countrymen who were experiencing distress.
Some of the settlers from Fehmarn subscribed to the Deutscher Verein.
The
above provides some information of the known Fehmarners who settled in Bendigo.
I have only used some of the biographical details for each person from Bendigo,
the German Chapter and for some names I have added information from
my own research.
I
have started to extract from the Hamburg passenger lists (compiled by the
Queensland Family History Society) names of immigrants from Fehmarn who arrived
in Melbourne between 1850 and 1876/9. I
have found many more names than those listed above.
I intend to see if I can trace where these Fehmaraners settled.
I would be pleased to hear from anyone who has information on emigrants
from Fehmarn who went to Australia whether directly or via America.
The Hamburg lists compiled by the Queensland Family History Society
generally provide more information than the Victorian Public Record Office
Immigration to Victoria 1852 –1879 available on the Internet.
I would be happy to assist if I can anyone who would like additional
information on immigrants from Hamburg to Melbourne.
Kathleen
Toal
ktoal@relax.com.au
[1][1] Bendigo Camera Pictures, Victorian Centenary Issue 1934-35, The Cambridge Press and Bolton Bros. Pty Ltd. Bendigo, p.1.
[1] F. Cusack, (1973) Bendigo a history, William Heinemann Australia Pty Ltd, Melbourne, p.57
[1] M. Cannon, (1966) The Land Boomers, Melbourne University Press, p. 118
MIN
FEHMARNSCH
Von:
E. Bügge-Wood
Ik söcht na beeder Tieden,
Fünn veele, nette Lüüd,
De kunn mi all good lieden,
Op Norn un in de Süüd.
Doch keener kun
mi geeven
Min Mudders troe Leev,
Ear Sorgen und ear Streeven,
Ear Schnack, de in mi bleev.
Ik bröch ear
wilde Bloomen,
Dor het sey siek to freid
De Tränen sö ik kaamen
"Min Heune, du büß seud"!
Ik hev di nich vorgeeten,
Een Breef, een Gruß.
Heimweh in mi versteeken
Du büß alleen to Huus
De Himmel hold de
Krohnen,
Ahnen sünd dor baven,
Dor ward di God belohnen,
Dor war ik ok hen-kaamen.
DEUTSCHE MUTTERLIEBE
Von:
E. Bügge-Wood
1.
Ich suchte so nach Frieden,
Fand viele
nette Leut'
Im Norden und
im Süden,
Fand Friede und
fand Freud'.
2.
Doch
niemand konnte geben
Mir treue Mutterlieb',
Dein Sorgen und
dein Streben,
Dein Dialekt
mir blieb.
3.
Ich brachte wilde Rosen
Der Mutter
voller Freud.
Sie tat mich
weinend kosen,
"Mein Kind
du stillst mein Leid".
4.
Ich hab' dich nicht vergessen,
Ich schicke
Brief und Reim.
Heimweh hab’
ich besessen,
Du bist allein
Daheim.
5.
Der Himmel hält die Krohnen
Wo Ahnen sind
daheim,
Da wird dich
Gott belohnen,
Dort will ich
bei dir sein.
TO MY MOTHER IN GERMANY
By: E. Bügge-Wood
1.
I've searched for happy faces -
Found many a
helping friend.
I've been in
many places,
Met many folks
so grand.
2.
Yet no-one ever could compare
To mother's
loving ways,
How she would
always work and care,
No one could
take her place.
3.
Although you're far away from me,
In my heart you
are near.
I think of you
in solemn hour
And feel as if
you're here.
4.
If we could all be just as dear
As you have
been to us,
We would not
have to shed a tear
But live in
happiness.
5.
As sure as there's a God above
And a heaven
for us to rest,
I know that
God, for all your love,
Repays you with
the best.
Frieda Bügge age 54 in 1949
Else's Mother
Newsletter submissions
by E-mail: kc7bal@juno.com
or mail to:
Tressie Hughes
PO Box 770
Puyallup WA 98371