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education in the natural sciences, if not without basic scientific knowledge, and were at times of a
less privileged class, they could imprint their own non-scientific views onto the Germanic
perception of New Zealand, in which working conditions, and not natural history and philosophy,
were of greater value. This often involved assuming the role of an immigrant advisor to the
general public, i.e. specifically lower and upper middle-class Germans, particularly concerning
the merits and means of immigrating to the ‘worker’s paradise’. The main tendency was to focus
on or emphasise German immigrants and communities in New Zealand through recounting their
respective success stories or failures and following the achievements of specific German figures,
or else create a picture of the conditions facing skilled immigrant workers in general. The
resulting aspiration to be a social critic was also shared by the scientists and naturalists when the
format of their contributions permitted it. In both cases, they showed a clear willingness to assess
the socio-political and cultural realities of the colony through relating general information on the
social conditions and inhabitants, including the general make-up of society, cultural
characteristics and the nature of the surroundings, with particular attention given to future
prospects and work conditions. During the latter decades of the nineteenth century in particular,
in which New Zealand was still a visibly Anglocentric society, social commentary became even
more significant for viewing those national characteristics that had appeared in their own right
and distinguished the colony from the world the original colonists had left behind. The worldly
traveller or scholar was then also in a position to offer a critique on similar issues facing other
colonies or on how New Zealand had followed its own path by comparing the state of the colony
to Britain, Germany or Central Europe at the same time as its prevailing international reputation
and national stereotypes.
In conclusion, German-speaking visitors and immigrants made numerous contributions to the
perception of New Zealand and the Maori in the nineteenth century, not only in the field of
science, but also in their level of social commentary and conservationism which a British
observer might be reluctant or else unable to make. In many cases they offered solutions or advice
concerning ongoing disputes in the colony, but they were either ignored by the English-speaking
public, or else only seen by a German readership. On a number of occasions their not being
British also proved an advantage in winning the trust of Maori and being granted permission to
visit closely guarded or ‘tapu’ sites. And while they were unable to divorce themselves
completely from British influences, they did, nevertheless, project a distinctive German or
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