German Settlement in Australia

German migrants came to Australia as founding pioneers following colonisation, with 10,000 migrating during the gold rushes of the 1850s. The world wars changed societal treatment of German migrants in Australia to one of suspicion and isolation. Many German families anglicised their surnames, which resulted in much of the history of German migration from that period disappearing. After World War II, many Germans arrived in Australia because of being displaced by the war. These groups were able to settle, and this enabled their churches, cultural institutions and schools to re-emerge. On such institution to take hold in Australia was the Melbourne German Gymnastics Club was originally founded in the 1860s at 115 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy; it closed in 1916.

Activities:

  • Have students write an article about a mystery (real or imagined). Use this exercise to make students consider writing style and tone. Students will need to demonstrate a range of writing and grammatical styles and consider the tone of the article, the audience and the purpose of the article.
  • Discuss the ways different language newspapers might be affected by the delivery of information from the land of origin.
  • Explore the articles and content of the newspaper resources linked above.