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Eine andere heimat - a different home : a biographical narrative of South African Germanness, 1864 - 2014
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2019
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| _version_ | 1867613643349164032 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Harris, Karen Leigh |
| author_browse | Harris, Karen Leigh |
| author_facet | Harris, Karen Leigh |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/71465 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:39:24.464Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/71465 Eine andere heimat - a different home : a biographical narrative of South African Germanness, 1864 - 2014 Harris, Karen Leigh Melck, Marcus UCTD German diaspora Diasporic identity Hermannsburg Mission Society South African history Apartheid Behrens Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. The growth of a distinctive German South African minority that began during the midnineteenth century, is closely related to the arrival of German mission societies in the region and the Hermannsburg Mission Society (HMS) in particular. Influenced by the tide of nineteenth century German emigration, along with sentiments of ethnic German nationalism, the HMS was far more than an agent of Christian evangelism in that it offered the means for a new life abroad without the need to forgo a connection to the “old country” or Heimat. Accordingly, and as with other examples of what has since been dubbed part of the German diaspora, evidence suggests that a significant portion of HMS related immigration to South Africa was representative of a desire for improved opportunities and the promise of the continuation of a traditionally agrarian mode of life. It follows that where the HMS inspired immigration must be regarded as an audacious undertaking, many of those involved in its venture were motivated to do so in pursuit of a conservative goal. It is within this context that this thesis uses the case study of the Behrens family from Hermannsburg in Germany to address the theme of German immigration, assimilation and identity as it presents itself over four generations of descendants. In doing so, it documents the origins, growth and decline of arguably South Africa’s most prominent German community during the twentieth century, the farming settlement of Kroondal, situated in the present-day North West province. Characterised by the desire to retain its culturally German identity, the community provides a minority perspective of a century and half of South African history, including the South African War, the First and Second World Wars and the Apartheid era. They are events that the thesis narrates through the use of a substantial and largely unpublished collection of Behrens family life histories, autobiographies and written correspondence, together with primary resource materials that have been assembled in the Kroondal church archive. Placed together, they are sources that offer insights into the community's norms regarding gender-roles, racial-relations along with their overall experience of a changing and often challenging South African environment. Ultimately, however, the community’s conservatism worked to divorce it from the increasingly liberal sentiments of the post-war (West) German public which eventually served to erode the self-identification of Kroondal’s Germanness. Historical and Heritage Studies PhD Unrestricted 2019-09-27T08:22:36Z 2019-09-27T08:22:36Z 2019 2019 Thesis Melck, M 2019, Eine andere heimat - a different home : a biographical narrative of South African Germanness, 1864 - 2014, PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71465> S2019 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71465 en © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD German diaspora Diasporic identity Hermannsburg Mission Society South African history Apartheid Behrens Eine andere heimat - a different home : a biographical narrative of South African Germanness, 1864 - 2014 |
| title | Eine andere heimat - a different home : a biographical narrative of South African Germanness, 1864 - 2014 |
| title_full | Eine andere heimat - a different home : a biographical narrative of South African Germanness, 1864 - 2014 |
| title_fullStr | Eine andere heimat - a different home : a biographical narrative of South African Germanness, 1864 - 2014 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Eine andere heimat - a different home : a biographical narrative of South African Germanness, 1864 - 2014 |
| title_short | Eine andere heimat - a different home : a biographical narrative of South African Germanness, 1864 - 2014 |
| title_sort | eine andere heimat a different home a biographical narrative of south african germanness 1864 2014 |
| topic | UCTD German diaspora Diasporic identity Hermannsburg Mission Society South African history Apartheid Behrens |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/71465 |