An Indescribable Beauty: Letters Home to Germany from Wellington, New Zealand, 1859 & 1862

(Hardback)

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This unique book is a small but priceless addition to the historical record of early New Zealand, published to recognise New Zealand's guest of honour status at Frankfurt Book Fair 2012. On January 27, 1859, an adventurous young German arrived in Wellington after a four-month voyage on a Swedish ship. With great alacrity we helped the sailors weigh anchor, and with what suspense did H and I stand on the foredeck to get the first view of the town which was to become our new home, Friedrich Krull writes. After we entered through the narrow straits a beautiful harbour lay before us, surrounded by high hills, and behind it more hills ascending to the snowline. In the east we saw Wellington itself, stretching along the coast for a mile. We were amazed: we had not expected the place to be so big. So began the first of many letters Krull would write at the behest of the German naturalist and historian Ernst Boll - published in English translation in this outstanding book.

Author Bio

Friedrich Krull was born in Mecklenburg-Strelitz in northern Germany in 1836, came to New Zealand in 1859, and lived here until his death in 1914. He married and had seven children, held office as a Wellington city councillor and member of the Wellington Harbour Board, and in 1871 was appointed Imperial German Consul by Kaiser Wilhelm I. Many of his descendants still live in New Zealand. His grandson, Eric Krull, was a naval officer at the D-Day Normandy landings.