Pomeranians in the South Pacific. Two homelands, one heart.
The article below was written by Dr Joanna Bramley for the 26th World Kashubian Congress in Szemud, Poland and originally published in Forum Pomorskie, 5.07.2025
The 26th World Kashubian Congress is an opportunity to meet emigrants from Pomerania from near and far corners of the earth. This year for the first time ever, Pomeranians from one of the most remote places in the world, New Zealand, were invited to participate.
The Polish Heritage of Otago and Southland Charitable Trust (POHOS) has been operating in the Otago region for 25 years. With great commitment it promotes the culture of Kashubia and Kociewie, as well as the extraordinary history of early Pomeranian settlement in New Zealand. This history is over 150 years old and is an important element in the formation of New Zealand. However, before the first wave of Polish emigrants reached New Zealand in 1870, the country had already been visited 100 years earlier, in 1773, by two famous Pomeranian scholars, Johann Reinhold and George Forster, father and son, naturalists, linguists, men of the Enlightenment. They came from a Scottish family, settled in Żuławy and Kociewie, associated with the Gdańsk region for 150 years. They reached New Zealand aboard the Resolution, accompanying Captain James Cook as scientists employed by the King George III during his second voyage around the world in the years 1772-1775. The Forsters discovered and named almost 150 species of fauna and flora in New Zealand, and created the world’s first Maori-English dictionary. The Forsters’ discoveries and their connections with Pomerania region are commemorated by a plaque funded by the Polish Embassy in Wellington thanks to the efforts of POHOS. The Forsters’ journey from Gdańsk via London to New Zealand and other South Pacific islands in the 18th century is an incredibly fascinating and intriguing story.
Equally fascinating is the history of the Pomeranian settlers who permanently moved from Kashubia and Kociewie to the South Pacific, seeking a new place to live for themselves and their families. This fate is described in the book “Poles Down South. A story of the Early Polish Settlers” in Otago and Southland, Aotearoa New Zealand’, published in English by POHOS. The author, Paul Klemick, a descendant of immigrants from Kociewie, has been collecting genealogical materials, unique photos, correspondence and memories for 25 years, documenting the history of Pomeranian families who decided to set off to the furthest accessible place on earth to start a new life there. The Polish edition of this special book will be published soon.
The Kashubian and Kociewian pioneers settled in New Zealand as part of a program carried out by the then Prime Minister Sir Julius Vogel, enabling the influx of settlers from Northern Europe: Denmark, Norway and Prussia. The Pomeranians, facing service in the Prussian army, Bismarck’s anti-Polish policy, and the lack of prospects for development, decided to abandon their homeland and go to other side of the the world, to the unknown, enduring the hardships of a several-month sea voyage, they arrived in a country where everything was new, alien and unknown. Hard work awaited them, mainly in the expansion of the railway and infrastructure. The strength of their character, diligence and ability to adapt to new conditions, meant that the Pomeranian pioneers soon became an integral part of New Zealand society and together with other settlers created this unique cultural mix of the new state.
In 2007, the first Ambassador of New Zealand to Poland, Philip Griffiths, during the opening of the exhibition entitled: At the End of the World. Emigration from Kociewie and Kashubia to New Zealand at the Museum of the Kociewie Region in Starogard Gdański, quoted an old Maori saying: ‘He aha te mea nui i tenri? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata’, which means ‘what is most important in the world? It’s people, it’s people, it’s people.
In 2022, POHOS initiated the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in Port Chalmers, where 150 years ago, on 6 December 1872, the first settlers from Pomerania sailed on the ship Palmerston. It also managed to commemorate the Pomeranian settlers in Otago by naming one of the streets in Dunedin Pomerania Way. An important project for the Pomeranian community in Otago was a trip along the Pomeranian settlers’ trail to their settlement places, such as Allanton and Waihola, where the remains of the original cottages have been preserved, and to places of remembrance, such as the cemetery in Allanton with the tombs of Pomeranian families. A place of particular importance for the Pomeranian heritage in New Zealand is POHOS’ care of the 19th-century church in Broad Bay on the picturesque Otago Peninsula. It is the southernmost church in the world, built by Polish settlers in 1899. Every year various important celebrations are organized there, a favourite is the joint singing of Polish Christmas carols.
The contribution of Pomeranian settlers to the development of the Otago region has been appreciated by the local city authorities – Dunedin City Council, scientific and cultural institutions such the Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, and the University of Otago, as well as the local New Zealand community.
During its 25 years of existence, POHOS has organised various cultural and artistic events, historical lectures and exhibitions on the contribution of Pomeranian settlers to the economic and cultural development of New Zealand. One of the more interesting aspects of this history was the participation of Kashubian and Kociewie women in the development of the suffrage movement in New Zealand at the end of the 19th century. Through its activities to promote the history of Pomeranian settlement, POHOS contributes to the promotion of Kashubia and Kociewie in New Zealand
We hope that a foundation will soon be established in Pomerania, which will be able to help promote Kashubia and Kociewie in the South Pacific, to bring together two distant but very friendly countries within the framework of cultural, scientific and economic cooperation.
On behalf of POHOS and our entire community in New Zealand, we would like to warmly greet all participants of the World Kashubian Congress in Szemud. We would like to thank the organizers, especially the Szemud’s Regional Council for their hospitality, and warm welcome.
