11/16/09

 War memorial at Mellinghausen showing the large number of men and boys lost especially in the Second World War from this tiny village and that of the nearby Ohlendorf. Note the Logemann and Kothrade names. These are relatives of the Bensemanns and other German families who emigrated to Australia, America and New Zealand in the 19th Century. Descendants of these extended families fought on both sides during the Second World War.  (Click photo to enlarge)

Stone at the Logemann hof or farm at Ohlendorf near Mellinghausen commemorating the early settlers there. The Logemann family, Bensemann ancestors, still owns this land.  The English translation is (roughly): "What is unreachable shouldn’t concern us. It is our duty to reach the heights we can." (Click photo to enlarge)

Short family tree of the Logemann family in a memorial at Ohlendorf.  (Click photo to enlarge)

War memorial at Upper Moutere shows in a poignant manner that NZ families of German descent in New Zealand usually embraced their new alignment with the British Empire.  (Click photo to enlarge)

St Paul's:

St Paul's Lutheran Church today at Sarau (Upper Moutere). (Click photo to enlarge)

The church's cemetery, where the most prominent German immigrants are buried at Upper Moutere, including many Bensemanns.  (Click photo to enlarge)