Summary

Pair of leather ski boots, used by Dorothea Dunzinger in Graz, Austria, circa 1947-1959. Dorothea immigrated to Australia from Austria, arriving on the 'Flaminia' on 31 December 1959. She was a proficient recreational skier and part of a volunteer rescue team in Switzerland. She brought her ski equipment with her as a reminder of home and with hopes of using them in Australia, although she never did.

Born in 1929 near Graz, Austria, Dorothea Dunzinger [formerly Huber and nee Freitag] was a proficient recreational skier and part of a volunteer rescue team in Switzerland. She lived and worked primarily as a mill weaver and seamstress in England, Switzerland and Austria before migrating to Australia from Austria on 30 November 1959, arriving on the Cogedar Line ship 'Flaminia' on 31 December. She settled in Melbourne and married fellow Austrian Johann Dunzinger whom she met at Broadmeadows migrant hostel. They had a daughter Caroline and lived in various Melbourne suburbs boarding and renting before building a home in Kalorama. The couple divorced in1978. Dorothea worked hard all her life, owning a boutique clothing shop in Camberwell at one stage but primarily as a textile outworker and factory worker trying to make ends meet. She died in 2001.Dorothea Huber at right.

Physical Description

Pair of black leather panzl ski boots, with thick rubber 'Vibram' brand tread. The exterior body of the boots are constructed from black leather and the interior is lined with brown leather. The boots have two sets of laces: one securing a vertical tongue through small circular eyelets, the other securing over a horizontal tongue, which folds over the vertical tongue and laces, through heavy folded hooks. There is a leather loop at the top of the ankle for assisting in pulling the boots on. There are metal caps on the top of the sole at the toe and the interior of the toe, which attach to skis via a spring attachment

Significance

The Dunzinger Austrian Migrant Collection has evolved to become a rich group of objects which tell a particular story of an Austrian woman's post-war migration experiences, as well as broader contextual narratives relating to the variety of selection and management processes in place in Europe after World War II. These include references to Australian-specific organisations involved in migration management such as the Australian Migration Mission. Items explore the enthusiastic promotional activities of the Australian Government to encourage migration from the UK and Europe in order to populate Australia and build a workforce. Artefacts also relate to a significant Italian migrant ship of the period, the Cogedar Line 'Flotto Lauro'.

There is a also symbolic poignancy about the skis and the small sewing machine Dorothea Dunzinger brought with her from Austria: the skis representing precious mementoes from home and hopes and expectations for the leisure activity they might bring in Australia; the sewing machine a pragmatic object which came to dominate Dorothea's actual settled life of hard work both in the home and as an outworker with no leisure time at all.

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