Summary

Fold-out colour postcard featuring images of Mount Beauty, Falls Creek and the Kiewa Hydro-Electric Scheme, kept by German migrant Guenter Schneider who worked there for the State Electricty Commission from 1956 until 1962. The Kiewa Hydro-Electric Scheme was bult by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) between 1939 and 1962, and included the construction of the Mount Beauty township as a construction and administration base. The viewfolder includes images of several reservoirs that formed part of the scheme and the interior of the control room at the McKay Creek Power Station, completed in 1960. Also included are several views of the Falls Creek Ski Resort, which was started as a recreational facility for workers on the Kiewa Hydro-Electric Scheme, with the first ski lodge built by SECV workers in 1946. The first ski lift, a simple rope tow, was built in 1951 and the first chairlift in Australia was constructed there in 1957.

Guenter and Ann Schneider migrated to Australia from Neustadt, Germany through the Australian/West German Assisted Passage Scheme, travelling on the Dutch Nederland Line ship MV 'Johan van Oldenbarnevelt' from 11 December 1954 until 13 January 1955. Guenter and Ann left Germany due to experiencing economic hardship, and also enticed by good reports from a German friend who had already migrated to Tasmania. They were transported directly from Station Pier to Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre in northern Victoria. Their first and only child Patrick was born at Albury Hospital soon after they arrived in June 1955. They later relocated to Mount Beauty in north-eastern Victoria where Guenter, a motor mechanic by trade, was employed as a general labourer on the Kiewa Hydro-Electric Scheme, probably in fulfilment of the standard two year government work contract compulsory for assisted migrants. In 1962 they moved to Morwell in the Victorian La Trobe Valley where Guenter was employed as a turbine operator. He was employed there by the State Electricity Commission until his retirement in the 1990s.

Physical Description

Full colour postcard which folds out to reveal 12 back-to-back images of natural, skiing, road trip and power station scenes. Inside front cover contains text about Mt Beauty as tourist destination and the Kiewa Hydro electric project. Reverse side has space for postal address and postage stamp.

Significance

Statement of Significance;
This item is part of a collection which enables the documentation of the experiences of post World War II German migrants who came via the Australian/West German Assisted Passage Scheme. This was one of many agreements established between the Australian Government and the governments of numerous European countries to encourage post-war migration. This agreement was ratified in 1952. The collection also links to the history of the Kiewa Hydro-Electric Scheme which employed many post-war migrants and which receives less attention in comparison to the better known Snowy Mountains Scheme, both managed at the time by the State Electricity Commission of Victoria. Finally a number of the documents relate to one of the best known migrant ships the Dutch Nederland Line MV 'Johan van Oldenbarnevelt'.

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