News - Holtermann Museum

Exciting Holtermann news from Germany

NewsJanuary 24, 2024366Views

The Gulgong Holtermann Museum is proud to announce its association with the BallinStadt Emigration Museum which was brought about by the installation of the new Bernhard Otto Holtermann exhibit in Hamburg in December 2023. This interesting Museum presents the history of German immigration and emigration spanning four eras. …

Peter Solness – ‘Holtermann Projections’

EventsJune 11, 2023284Views

Henry Beaufoy Merlin impersonator (Peter Solness) and assistant, Charles Bayliss (Jane Collins) participated in the 2023 Henry Lawson Heritage Festival within their "Projection Walking Tour" featuring Holtermann photos taken in Gulgong. This one-off night event was a great success and featured photographs taken during the…

Women of the Gulgong Goldfield

ResearchMarch 8, 2023332Views

Today, 8 March, is International Women’s Day, so let’s take a look at some of the women of the Holtermann Collection. Many are working class women who raised children and ran businesses like produce stores or hotels, while their husband’s mined for gold. Others are…

Pullen

Museum ConnectionsFebruary 12, 2023221Views

Imagine having such a trail-blazing life as a pioneer that when summing it up you barely mention that you were the Pullen - of Pullen & Rawsthorne fame - who designed and operated the stamper battery that crushed Holtermann’s quartz to extract his considerable gold finds! Such…

Melkjoer Mystery

ResearchFebruary 7, 2023242Views

A number of photos in the Holtermann collection have not been identified. Some are attributed to Gulgong or Home Rule but captioned by the State Library with an additional question mark. This week I set out to solve one of those mysteries.

Water Woes

ResearchFebruary 6, 2023290Views

The approaching summer of 1871 was an unpleasant time on the Gulgong goldfield. Two aspects of the dry hot weather caused major problems for miners and townsfolk - dust and filth - as these newspaper snippets attest: ‘Down with the dust’ is now the universal…

Spiro Bennett

Museum ConnectionsJanuary 17, 2023254Views

When Spiro and Ann Bennett (nee Carroll) posed for this photo in front of their shop in 1872, they can hardly have imagined that life-sized cut outs from the same image would be standing in the American Tobacco Warehouse on Mayne Street over 150 years…

Golden Age

ResearchJanuary 11, 2023223Views

With the discovery of payable gold on Red Hill in 1870, came opportunities for all. No matter who you were or where you came from, if you could get to Gulgong you had a chance to find "wondrous treasure". And it was a golden age for hoteliers.…

Blanchard The Butcher

ResearchDecember 2, 2022219Views

This story has enough intrigue for a Netflix biopic, but don't worry, Blanchard was an actual butcher and not a serial killer or blood-thirsty murderer. He was so nice, in fact, that he went on to be Mayor of Gulgong! Alfred Blanchard can be seen in at…

Thiodon’s Exhibition

ResearchNovember 11, 2022247Views

As Henry Beaufoy Merlin and Charles Bayliss made their way around the streets of Gulgong in 1872 documenting the people and their homes and businesses, one mysterious figure kept cropping up: Thiodon!

Gondolf Family

ResearchOctober 14, 2022180Views

You might wonder what a gold bible on display in the Long Room could have in common with the Holtermann Collection. Our Research Team has the answer. A German immigrant living in Woollahra, Peter Gondolf, purchased the ornate bible with money earned from gold discovered…

Clay Gulgong 2022

EventsApril 15, 2022127Views

The Gulgong Holtermann Museum is delighted to host the 2022 Clay Gulgong Masters’ Exhibition. This international ceramics exhibition features the works of artists who are leaders in their field. Although impacted by COVID, it has created a perfect opportunity to celebrate the outstanding ceramic artists…