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CHAPTER TWO: Georg Forster (1754-94) and the Early Perception of New
Zealand and the Maori in German-speaking Europe
Forster’s Reise um die Welt
The individual most responsible for spreading the South Pacific imagination into German-
speaking Europe during the eighteenth century is Georg Forster, whose account of Captain
Cook’s second voyage to the South Pacific in 1772-75 received many accolades and much
interest by his fellow countrymen. Born Johann George Adam Forster 1 on 27 November 1754 in
the Prussian-Polish town of Nassenhuben, near Danzig, in what is now Mokry Dwór, this
youthful and intelligent seventeen-year-old accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster
(1729-98), 2 on Cook’s Resolution after the latter was appointed as official naturalist for the
journey following the withdraw of Joseph Banks when his proposed extensions for the ship to
house his entourage and collections were proved impractical. Prior to the voyage, Johann
Reinhold was briefly an assistant pastor in Danzig before carrying out a scientific report, while
accompanied by Georg, on the new German colonies along the Volga River in Russia in 1765-66,
which, however, ended in disappointment and no pay, and resulted in their move to England. As
he had a considerable interest in the natural world and the antiquaries, he became a teacher of
natural history and philology at the Dissenters’ Academy at Warrington in 1767, and
consequently became involved with the influential Royal Society, the Society of Antiquaries and
the Society of Arts, all of which naturally culminated in his later scientific appointment for the
expedition. However, due to contractual issues and a wrangle as to who would write the official
account of the voyage, Johann Reinhold was refused permission to be the author of any such
narrative. 3 In spite of this, it did not prevent Georg from publishing an account under his own
1 Although referred to as Georg Forster by German scholars, he was presumably christened George to commemorate
his Yorkshire grandfather George Reinhold Forster who was of Scottish descent.
2 Johann Reinhold Forster was born on 22 October 1729 in Dirschau (Weichsel) and died on 9 December 1798 in
Halle, Germany. (See Michael E. Hoare, The Tactless Philosopher: Johann Reinhold Forster (1729-98). Melbourne:
Hawthorn, 1976; Michael E. Hoare, “The Legacy of J.R. Forster to European Science and Letters Before Cook’s
Second Voyage”, in: Captain James Cook: Image and Impact: South Sea Discoveries and the World of Letters. Vol.
II: The Pacific Syndrome: Conditions and Consequences. Edited and Introduced by Walter Veit. Melbourne:
Hawthorn, 1979, 64-75; Johann Reinhold Forster, The Resolution Journal of Johann Reinhold Forster 1772-1775.
Ed. Michael E. Hoare. London: Hakluyt Society, 1982, vol. 1, 1-54.)
3 Johann Reinhold did, however, manage to publish his own philosophical treatise in 1778 under the title
Observations Made during a Voyage Round the World, on Physical Geography, Natural History, and Ethic
Philosophy. A German version then followed in 1783, entitled Johann Reinhold Forster’s… Bemerkungen über
Gegenstände der physischen Erdbeschreibung, Naturgeschichte und sittlichen Philosophie auf seine Reise um die
Welt gesammlet, after being translated and further annotated by his son.
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