Upper Moutere locals will join with descendants of settler German families on Labour weekend to celebrate 175 years since the arrival of the first German immigrant ship to our region.
The St Pauli arrived in Nelson in June 1843 and those on board became the first group of German immigrants to New Zealand, some of their descendants remain in Upper Moutere village today.
The missionaries and some settlers established a village, St Paulidorf, in the Moutere Valley in 1843, but it was abandoned within a year due to its isolation and flooding.
From 1850, German settlers moved back to the Moutere and encouraged family and friends from Germany to join them with settlements spreading to Neudorf and Rosedale, formerly Rosental.
Now the entire 175 years of German settlements will be celebrated with the weekend’s main event held on Saturday, October 20, at the Moutere Hills Community Centre, and on Sunday, which is also Moutere Artisans Day, a special church service will be held at Upper Moutere’s St Paul’s Lutheran Community Church.
“The weekend’s going to be amazing, we’re also putting together a really great history display,” says chairperson of the organising committee, Jenny Briars.
The history display will be open to the public in the Moutere Hills Community Centre on Sunday, October 21, for a gold coin donation.
It will also include a display about flax, a nod to the flax mills of the past.
Jenny says there’s been “great interest” in the event, with some attending from overseas and others from all over New Zealand to be a part of the celebrations.