Von Luckner: A Reassessment

When Felix von Luckner arrived in New Zealand in 1917 as a prisoner of war, anti-German sentiment was rife. Yet his gentlemanly conduct towards crews captured in his raiding activities, along with his audacious escape from Motuihe Island, made him a folk hero, and he was certainly treated as one by many New Zealanders on his return in 1938. A number of controversies surround him and his activities, however. Archival documents have now become available in both Germany and New Zealand which clarify various matters that have remained unresolved for many years.

The Author: James N. Bade is Associate Professor of German at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and Director of the University of Auckland Research Centre for Germanic Connections with New Zealand and the Pacific. He has published widely on modern German literature and the German connection with New Zealand.

Contents: The Seeadler in the Pacific: raiding activities and stranding on Maupelia - The journey west by lifeboat from Maupelia and capture in Fiji - The escape from Motuihe Island and recapture at the Kermadecs - Some Island enquiries: von Luckner's complaint to the Governor-General and Karl Grün's plea for German intervention - The 1938 propaganda visit to New Zealand and its consequences.