Carl Sylvius Völkner ( – 2 March 1865) was a German-born Protestant missionary in New Zealand who was hanged and decapitated at his church grounds on the east coast of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

in what became known as the

Völkner Incident The Völkner incident describes the murder of the German-born Protestant missionary Carl Sylvius Völkner in New Zealand in 1865 and what was seen by some to be the consequent miscarriage of justice by the Government of New Zealand during the ...

Biography

Völkner was born in the town of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

, in the Electorate of Hesse, Germany, around 1819. He was sent to New Zealand by the North German Missionary Society, along with several other missionaries, having received training at the missionary college at Hamburg. He arrived in the country in August 1849 and was sent to Taranaki, to work alongside another German missionary, Johann Riemenschneider. In 1852 Völkner offered his services to the Church Missionary Society (CMS). He married Emma Lanfear, sister of a CMS missionary on 29 June 1854. For several years he worked as a lay teacher in the lower Waikato and in 1857 became a naturalised citizen. Völkner was ordained a deacon in 1860 and the following year, in August, he became a priest and took charge of the CMS mission station at Ōpōtiki. The local ''iwi'' (tribe) was Te Whakatōhea and soon a church and school were built in the area. Emma Volkner

Death

On 19 May 1864 Völkner recorded that four of the 16 Christian teachers of the Ōpōtiki district had accompanied a Pai Mārire (Hauhau) campaign to Maketu, although not as active participants in the fighting. He went to Auckland during 1864 and again in January 1865. He was then warned by members of Te Whakatōhea not to return to Ōpōtiki. Ignoring the warning, Völkner returned to Ōpōtiki on 1 March 1865 and was apprehended by the Pai Mārire led by Patara, a chief, and

Kereopa Te Rau Kereopa Te Rau (? – 5 January 1872) was a leader of Pai Mārire (Hauhau), a Māori religion. He played a key role in the Volkner Incident and was subsequently hanged for his part in it. Early life Little is known of Kereopa's early life but h ...

, a Pai Mārire prophet. Völkner was hanged the following day from a willow tree near the church by his own Whakatōhea congregation. He was taken down and decapitated, and his eyes were gouged out and swallowed by

. The Revd Thomas Grace, who was also in Ōpōtiki, was also taken by the Pai Mārire, although he was rescued.

Legacy

The

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in Ōpōtiki was reconsecrated as St Stephen the Martyr in memory of his death on 21 November 1875. His bible, chalice and paten are still held at the church. After pardon was later granted to those involved in Völkner’s death, the church was renamed again as Hiona St Stephen’s on 5 June 1994

Te Paepae o Aotea Te Paepae o Aotea, also known the Volkner Rocks (named after Carl Sylvius Völkner), are a group of andesitic rock stacks and pinnacles located northwest of Whakaari/White Island in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty. They reach 113 metres above s ...

, also known the Volkner Rocks, are named after him.

Footnotes

References

* Lyall, A. C., (1979) ''Whakatohea of Opotiki''. A.H. & A.W. Reed.
Chapter 5: The Völkner and Fulloon Slayings
in The Ngati Awa Raupatu Report. Waitangi Tribunal, 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Volkner, Carl 1819 births 1865 deaths German Anglican priests German Anglican missionaries Anglican missionaries in New Zealand Volkner, Carl Sylvius People murdered in New Zealand 19th-century Protestant martyrs German expatriates in New Zealand German Presbyterian missionaries Presbyterian missionaries in New Zealand

Biography

Death

Legacy

See also

Footnotes

References