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said to possess “all the experience and knowledge of the world” 151 and was believed to have been
“strongly advised by Dr. Hochstetter to make a stay in Auckland”, 152 was described by the local
press as “a sincere friend of England” 153 and “one of those ‘grand old men’ of whom the world
has lately had not a few, who have been active and energetic throughout a long life, and who in
extreme old age are still endowed with great bodily health and vigour, and whose mental faculties
exhibit no signs of decay, but on the contrary, are as acute and alert as ever”. 154 The result of his
travels was the publication of the two-volume work Durch das Britische Reich in 1886 which
appealed to a general audience and armchair travellers alike. 155
In an interview with the Herald, Hübner acknowledges the “courtesy and kindness which
I have received from all persons with whom I have come in contact” and speaks in the words of a
“well-educated Englishman”:
What has struck me most forcibly during my stay in New Zealand has been the great progress that
has been made in so short a time. I have been much astonished at this. And, of course, such rapid
progress shows great capacities not only in the country, but in the people. The progress made in
some parts of America is owing to the enormous influx of people, and to the development of
particular localities. Your progress has been a remarkable event in the world’s history. As to your
politics, I have not been long enough in the country to form any opinion of value. You are a
democratic community, and from the nature of things could have been nothing else. […] There is
no order of nobles here, and no reason for their existence. But absolute equality is a dream, and
can never be realised, so long as men have different capacities. You have perfect freedom of
government, but are loyal to the Empire, and it is part of your greatness to be connected with so
grand a maritime Empire as England. The scenery of New Zealand is exceedingly fine and varied.
You have mountains and plains, and every variety of country. Rotorua and Rotomahana are
wonderful and unique places. Some spots remind one of the scenes depicted in Dante’s “Inferno.”
To look at, it is like a dream. 156
Notably, Hübner’s focus on the colony’s progress, egalitarianism, democracy and connection to
the British Empire reveals the hallmarks of a devoted ‘Anglophile’, even though German interest
in England began to wane in the 1880s until it was replaced by full-blown ‘Anglophobia’ by the
turn of the century as Germany’s own naval and colonial ambitions took on more significance. 157
When compared to Finsch’s sometimes negative perceptions, several other factors appear to have
151
Alexander Freiherr von Hübner, “Baron Hubner Interviewed. His opinions on New Zealand and the European
situation”, in: NZH 12 Nov (1883): 5.
152
“Baron Hubner”, in: NZH 29 Oct (1883): 5.
153
Ibid., 5.
154
Hübner, “Baron Hubner Interviewed”, 5.
155
An English and French translation of his account were also published that same year as Through the British
Empire and A travers l’Empire Britannique, 1883-1884.
156
Hübner, “Baron Hubner Interviewed”, 5.
157
See McClelland, German Historians, 161-224.
318