Researchers

Since the early 1970s, a number of researchers have produced landmark works which have provided Australian Wends with an essential framework and perspective with which to more confidently research their family histories. Prior to 1970, few people in Australia had heard of the Wends, including their descendants, most of whom believed their ancestors had been German. Although most of Australia's nineteenth century Wendish immigrants settled in South Australia, a considerable number also lived in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

Dr George Nielsen
In 1969/70, Dr George Nielsen of Concordia College, Illinois visited Australia on a Fulbright Research Grant and spent nine months conducting research into Wendish migration and settlement.

Rupert Burger
Burger was a descendant of Wends who settled at Gnadenthal in Western Victoria.

Other scholars and publications
Many Wendish family histories, usually printed by the Lutheran Publishing House in Adelaide, followed after the landmark works of Nielsen and Burger during the late 1970s and 1980s.

Siegfried Albert

SURNAMES
Joel Blackburn has built a magnificent searchable database listing 3164 Surnames from Dr George Nielsen's Notes. One can find the list on our main menu under The Wends and then click on SURNAMES on the right hand column. For information...

Our Newsletter

2007 March (No38)

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