Summary

Crossing the Equator certificate issued to Gerda Lischke, during her migrant voyage to Australia with her husband Walter and four children on the MS Skaubryn, 18 December, 1955. Also refer to photograph record number MM 140480 of the ceremony taken by Walter Lischke.

Certificates commemorating the crossing of the equator line were commonly distributed to ship passengers throughout the early to mid twentieth century.

Physical Description

Colour certificate printed on cream paper with text printed in black ink and stamps in purple. Illustrations of a ship, globe and Neptune.

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection provides an evocative insight into one family's post World War II migrant journey, from processing and transport from Bremerhaven, Germany through the ship voyage, ports, arrival and processing at Station Pier, Bonegilla and their early settlement. The photo album compliments other diaries and photo journals in the Museum's collection and demonstrates the importance to migrants of documenting their journey and creating an enduring record of this seminal human experience. The camera with which the photographs were taken is also part of the collection, providing an often rare tangible link between the technology and what it produced and the technological era represented.

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