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EINE ANDERE HEIMAT - A DIFFERENT HOME A BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVE OF SOUTH AFRICAN GERMANNESS, 1864 - 2014 by MARCUS MELCK A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR PHILOSOPHIAE (HISTORY) in the Department of Historical and Heritage Studies at the UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA FACULTY OF HUMANITIES April 2019 Supervisor: Professor Karen Harris The financial assistance of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, in collaboration with the South African Humanities Deans Association towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NIHSS and SAHUDA “Die Erinnerungen ist das einzige Paradies woraus wir nicht vertrieben werden können.” "Memory is the only paradise we can not be driven from" - Jean Paul (1763-1825) (Taken from the notebook of Richard Behrens under the section titled “Vergänglichkeit, Tod, Trost" - Transience, Death, Solace) With deep gratitude to Prof Karen Harris, my parents, Antony and Gudrun, and my wife, Ali Lauren. Contents Abstract i Key Words i Abbreviations ii Notes on the use of the original German texts ii Behrens Family Tree (abridged) iii Introduction - The title: Eine andere Heimat - A different home 1 - A narrative analysis 2 - A review of the historiography 3 - Mission historiography 3 - ‘Secular’ German immigration and settlement in South Africa 7 - A German diaspora 12 - An overview of the chapters and primary source materials 18 - Biography 23 Chapter 1 Die Hermannsburger Wanderung - The Hermannsburg Migration 30 - German Migrations 31 - Ludwig Harms and the Christian Revival in Hermannsburg 39 - The Hermannsburg Mission Society 44 Chapter 2 Aufbruch nach Afrika - Departure to Africa 1864-1895 65 - The German Settlements 80 - The Behrens family at Waaikraal 88 Chapter 3 Das Heimatrecht zu Erwerben - Earning the right to belong 1896-1909 92 - Jameson Raid 92 - South African War 97 - Eviction and detention 104 - Aftermath 110 - The Kroondal School Association 115 Chapter 4 Deutschtum - Germanness 1910-1918 126 - Nationalism 130 - The First World War 139 - Second Generation: Gussy Behrens & Ida Wehrmann 144 Chapter 5 Afrikadeutsche - Germans in Africa 1919-1939 161 - Pflicht / Duty 162 - Black African experience of Kroondal - Naboth Mokgatle 167 - Deutschertag / German Day 176 - Third Generation: Hugo & Richard Behrens 182 - Nazism 185 Chapter 6 Solidarität - Solidarity 1939-1945 196 - Hugo Behrens - A “German” occupation 201 - Richard Behrens - “Eine Brotlose Kunst” / A bread-less art 207 - Ida Behrens - Black & White Relationships in Kroondal 214 - Hugo Behrens - Relationships and SWA 219 Chapter 7 Die Pflicht ruft - “Duty Calls” 1945-1952 228 - Ida Behrens - Duty & DAHA 229 - Youth Groups & Courtship 237 - Apartheid & Racial Relations 242 - Deutsch-Afrikaner / German-Africans 246 Chapter 8 Eine Deutschtumsinsel - An Island of Germanness 1954-1989 254 - Third Generation: Family and Germany 255 - 1960: The Reality of Race 259 - 1960-1970: Questions of Germanness 269 - Fourth Generation: Germanness & Assimilation 278 - 1980s: Legacy & Decline 281 Chapter 9 Rückgang - Decline 1990-2014 288 - A new South Africa 288 - A last reunion 292 Conclusion 294 Source List 302 i) Archival Sources 302 - Gemeinde / Statistik 302 - DAHA 302 ii) Private Family Collections - Correspondence 303 iii) Private Family Collections - Printed 304 iv) Oral Sources 306 v) Academic Journal Articles 307 vi) Periodicals 311 vii) Literature 311 viii) Papers 323 ix) Internet Sources 323 Abstract The growth of a distinctive German South African minority that began during the mid- nineteenth 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. Key words: German diaspora; diasporic identity; Kroondal; Hermannsburg Mission Society; Heimat; South African history; Behrens; immigration; identity; biography; nationalism; Apartheid !i Abbreviations: ADV - Alldeutscher Verband ANC - African National Congress BDM - Bund Deutscher Mädel BMS - Berlin Mission Society BSAC - British South African Company CNO - Christelik Nasionaal Onderwys DAHA - Deutsch-Afrikanischer Hilfsausschuß DDR - Deutsche Demokratische Republik DJSA - Deutsche Jugend Südafrika DKG - Deutscher Kolonialgesellschaft HMS - Hermannsburg Mission Society NM - North German Missionary Society PAC - Pan African Congress RDM - Rand Daily Mail SAW - South African War VDA - Volksbund für das Deutschtum im Ausland Notes on the use of original German texts This thesis includes a variety of original German texts that have been taken from manuscripts, letters and diaries, dating back to the nineteenth century and, as such, reflects differences in spelling conventions. Likewise, the influence of English and Afrikaans on the German language of isolated communities such as those in South Africa is evident in a number of sources. Therefore, while the attempt has been made to present each quote as accurately as possible, the thesis does not indicate where the language used in these quotes differs from present-day High German. Furthermore, in some instances the clarity of handwritten sources has created the potential for an ambiguous interpretation. !ii Behrens Family Tree (abridged) Johann Heinrich Behrens 1793-1849 Married: Anna Knoop 1802-1874 Wilhelm Behrens Peter Behrens Six other siblings 1827-1900 1832-1875 (HMS Missionary at Married: Marie Fröhling Bethanie) 1834-1890 August Heinrich Dietrich Behrens Georg Behrens 1864-1940 & Married: Dorothea Wenhold three other siblings 1869-1936 (Heiny) Wilhelm (Gussy) August Wilhelm Ten other Herman Heinrich Theodor Behrens siblings Behrens 1894-1975 Married: Ida Wehrman 1895-1980 Hugo Behrens Richard Behrens Four other siblings 1922-2015 1925-2014 Alma, Irma, Gerda & Linda Married: Irene Muhl Married: Irma Schütte 1924-2014 1927-2012 Helga Gudrun Elsa Ingrid Ernst August Karin Astrid Rolf Birgit Imke Bernd Dieter The names of those individuals whose lives form part of the central narrative of this thesis have been highlighted in bold. Introduction The title: Eine andere Heimat - A different home The German idea of Heimat, as a sense of spatial belonging and nostalgia, has retained a prominent, though at times troublesome place in the German language for much of its modern history. It is a concept that unlike the more literal Heim or home, upon which it is based, can be understood as the idealised association to the memory of an ‘original’ landscape or place. When seen as such, Heimat represents a form of identity in the same way that an older individual might reminisce about the Heimat (place) of his or her youth, and it is in this sense that Heimat is almost always associated with some form of loss.1 The title “Eine andere Heimat” and its disambiguation “A different home”, point to questions of spatial, communal, cultural and national identity as central themes in the process of German settlement and assimilation in South Africa. They are themes that this study approaches through the inter-generational narrative of the Behrens family, from the birth of its forebears in Germany in 1864 to its present-day culmination in South Africa in the lives of his grandsons
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