German Australians

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German Australians
Total population
(German
898,674 (by ancestry, 2011)
108,003 (by birth, 2011)
4.5% of total Australian population.[1])
Regions with significant populations
South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland
Languages
Australian English, German, Barossa German
Religion
Predominantly No religion, Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism.[2]

German Australians (German: Deutsch-Australier) are Australian citizens of ethnic German ancestry. The German community 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'.

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).

In December 2001, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that there were 15,000 Australian citizens resident in Germany.[3]

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, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Tagalog.

Immigration history

  No. of arrivals
July 1949 – June 2000[4]		 July 1949 – June 1959 [lower-alpha 1]July 1959 – June 1970[lower-alpha 2]
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%

Germans have been in Australia since the commencement of European settlement in 1788. At least seventy-three Germans arrived in Australia as convicts.[5]

1800s

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

Germans formed the largest non-English-speaking group up to the 20th century.[6]

Forty-Eighters

Forty-Eighters is a term for those who participated in or supported the European Revolutions of 1848. Many emigrated as a result of those revolutions. In particular, following the ultimate failure of the "March Revolution" in Germany, a substantial number of Germans emigrated to Australia. See Forty-Eighters 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]

1900s

By 1900, Germans were the fourth-largest European ethnic group on the continent, behind the English, Irish and Scots.[8]

By 1914, the number of German-Australians (including the descendants of German-born migrants of the second and third generation who had become Australians by birth) was estimated at approximately 100,000.[9]

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 who were a significant proportion 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.[4] By 1991, there were 112,000 German-born persons in Australia.

Tourism

Australia has long been a popular destination for German backpacker tourists and students.[10]

Education

There are the following German international schools in Australia:

German Australian culture

The Australian wine industry was the creation of German settlers in the nineteenth century.[11]

The Goethe-Institut is active in Australia, there are branches in Melbourne and Sydney.[12]

Notable Australians of German ancestry

Name Born Description    
Eric Abetz 1958 Australian Senator Emigrated to Australia from Germany in 1961
Eric Bana 1968 Australian Actor Born in Australia German mother
John Monash 1865 Australian General Born in Australia German Parents
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 Ettingshausen 1965 Rugby League player Born in Australia German ancestry
Brad Fittler 1972 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 Served in NSW 1788-1792 German father
Ingo Rademacher 1971 Soap opera actor Emigrated to Australia Born in Germany
Jack Riewoldt 1988 Australian rules footballer Born in Australia German ancestry
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
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
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 1969 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

Notes

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ Note this period covers 11 years rather than a decade.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Total count of persons: 19,855,288.
  2. ↑ Department of Immigration & Citizenship: Media – Publications: Statistics – Community Information Summaries
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Donohoe, J.H. (1988) The Forgotten Australians: Non-Anglo or Celtic Convicts and Exiles.
  6. ↑ G. Leitner, Australia's Many Voices: Australian English – The National Language, 2004, p. 181
  7. ↑ http://germanaustralianalianstomilitarism.blogspot.com
  8. ↑ Harmstorf, Ian and Cigler, Michael (1985) The Germans in Australia Melbourne : AE Press. Australian ethnic heritage series. ISBN 0-86787-203-9
  9. ↑ Kay Saunders, Roger Daniels, Alien Justice: Wartime Internment in Australia and North America, p. 4
  10. ↑ http://www.germany.embassy.gov.au/beln/home.html
  11. ↑ Speech By The Prime Minister, The Hon PJ Keating, Mp Luncheon The His Excellency Dr Von Weizsaecrer, President Of The Federal Republic Of Germany Parliament House, Canberra, 6 September 1993
  12. ↑ http://www.goethe.de/ins/au/lp/enindex.htm?wt_sc=australia

Further reading

  • Harmstorf, Ian and Cigler, Michael. The Germans in Australia (Melbourne: AE Press. Australian ethnic heritage series, 1985). ISBN 0-86787-203-9
  • Lehmann, Hartmut. "South Australian German Lutherans in the second half of the nineteenth century: A case of rejected assimilation?." Journal of Intercultural Studies 2.2 (1981): 24-42. online
  • Lehmann, Hartmut. "Conflicting kinds of loyalty: The political outlook of the australischer christenbote, Melbourne, 1867–1910." Journal of Intercultural Studies 6.2 (1985): 5-21.
  • Petersson, Irmtraud. German Images in Australian Literature from the 1940s to the 1980s (P. Lang, 1990)
  • Seitz, Anne, and Lois Foster. "Dilemmas of immigration—Australian expectations, migrant responses: Germans in Melbourne." Journal of Sociology 21.3 (1985): 414–430. online
  • Tolley, Julie Holbrook. "A social and cultural investigation of women in the wine industry of South Australia" (thesis, 2004) online

External links

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