New Germany is a town situated just inland from

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It has been incorporated firstly into

Pinetown Pinetown is a large area that is part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, inland from Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Pinetown is situated 16 km west of Durban at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,300 feet (305 to 395 m). History Pin ...

and now into eThekwini. Originally ''Neu-Deutschland'' and subsequently translated, the name refers to settlement of the area by German immigrants in 1848. They came over to farm

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

, but when that crop proved unsuccessful, the settlers turned to growing vegetables and flowers. The town became a municipality in 1960.

History

Natal's first German community owed its existence to the immigration scheme of an English Jew, Jonas Bergtheil, who arrived in Natal in 1843 and established the Natal Cotton Company three years later. Bergtheil saw the potential of European settlement along the coast and approached the British colonial office for immigrants. When first the British and then the Bavarian governments rejected his plans, he turned to the

Kingdom of Hanover The Kingdom of Hanover (german: Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Han ...

for support. Thirty-five peasant families (about 188 people) from the

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

district accepted his offer and arrived in Natal on 23 March 1848. They were settled in two adjacent areas roughly 10 km inland from Port Natal and called their new homes ''Neu-Deutschland'' (New Germany) and Westville. Bergtheil's cotton scheme failed after the first two crops were ravaged by bollworm. Furthermore, the ginning machinery he had ordered from England never arrived. The settlers soon abandoned cotton in favour of market gardening, and when their five-year contracts with Bergtheil ended many did not renew them. The fledgling community may well have foundered within a generation since the immigrants did not maintain contact with Germany and had no vision of a distinctly German community. The arrival of a Berlin missionary ensured that the language and religion would continue for the time being. Pastor Carl Wilhelm Posselt (1815–85) agreed to care for the congregation in New Germany, where he consecrated the first chapel of the

Berlin Missionary Society The Berlin Missionary Society (BMS) or ''Society for the Advancement of evangelistic Missions amongst the Heathen'' (German: '' Berliner Missionsgesellschaft'' or ''Gesellschaft zur Beförderung der evangelischen Missionen unter den Heiden'') was a ...

in South Africa on 19 November 1848. He conducted mission work among the Zulu farm labourers and in the

Valley of a Thousand Hills The Valley of a Thousand Hills is a valley between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, South Africa. The Umgeni River meets the Msunduzi River ( Duzi River) in the valley, and the Dusi Canoe Marathon is run through the area every year. Geography The V ...

, and in 1854 established a second station, Christianenberg, for this purpose. He also taught Scripture in the little German school which the settlers had established. In 1852 the congregation was briefly moved to Emmaus because of famine on the coast and declining numbers of settlers. Bergtheil succeeded in stemming the flow of Germans into the interior, and in 1854 Posselt returned to New Germany where he continued as missionary and pastor until his death in 1885.Hans-Juergen Oschadleus,: "Lutherans, Germans, Hermannsburgers." Natalia No.22, Dec.1992, pp.30-31, (www.natalia.org.za)

Today

The town consists of an industrial area bounded on two sides by Otto Volek Road and Shepstone Road, as well as a large hilly residential area whose main arterial roads are Sander Road and Glamis Avenue (eastern boundary), and Bohmer Road and Bosse Street (western boundary). Neighbouring suburbs are Padfield Park, Manors,

Wyebank Wyebank is a settlement located 27 km north-west of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality which is the greater Durban metropolitan area. It is surrounded by Ngqungqulu in the north, K ...

, and Clermont.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Germany, Kwazulu-Natal Populated places in eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality German settlements in South Africa Populated places established in 1848