Information about Immigrants who Journeyed to Wellington from Germany aboard the Gutenberg 1876 is increasing? More is sought as we plan a Representative Descendant Sesqui Gathering on 22 March 2026.

The list of descendants who arrived in Wellington on 23 March 1876 aboard the Gutenberg (Gutenburg) from Germany is growing. You may have noted Grace's response in this news blog which is copied below. A good reminder that descendants have spread far and wide since 1876. Interestingly her post fills a gap in the record (mine at least) that the one child born on this 1876 voyage of the Gutenberg was Alexander Guttenberg Ficinus.

Hello! This is a really interesting post to come across; I'm a descendant of Carl and Bertha Ficinus (which appears to have been mistranscribed as Fieinus, which is fair given that it is cursive), particularly their son born on the ship, Alexander Guttenberg Ficinus. They came from the town of Guben in Prussia. They didn't end up staying in New Zealand, instead immigrating to Melbourne in 1877 where Carl worked as a carpenter. It's really cool that you and others have collated this information!
Grace Ficinus

To date I have information and/or contact details for the following Gutenberg immigrant families and individuals:

• Alves (Alve)
• Schormann
• Briesemann
• Maul
• Mallgraff (Malgraff)
• Weiss
• Fieinus (Ficinus)
• Kohler
• Meyer

Work is proceeding to obtain further contact information and a fuller list of descendants. It is hoped tthat the 22 March 2026 Wellington sesqui gathering of Gutenberg descendants can be a truly representative gathering of the many families who came to Aotearoa New Zealand aboard this Vogel Scheme immigrant ship.

You can help by:

1. Providing key contact info for representative descendants who are willing to promote this gathering to their whanau;
2. Providing further info about the life of these immigrant families after their arrival in New Zealand;
3. Indicating your willingness to be part of a planning group who will arrange the 22 March 2026 event.

Watch this space for further posts about this event and these people.

Thank you.
Terry Alve
027 600 1926
[email protected]
Or, use the Contact form on this website.