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Dannevirke

For the Danish defensive fortification, see Danevirke.

Dannevirke (Danish: "Dane's work"), is a rural service town in the Manawatu-Wanganui area of New Zealand. It is the major town of the administrative district of Tararua, the easternmost of the districts in which the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council has responsibilities. The surrounding area has developed into dairy and sheep farming, which now provides the major income for the town's population of 6,000.

History

The town was founded on 15 October 1872 by Danish, Norwegian and Swedish settlers, who arrived at the port of Napier and moved inland. The settlers, who arrived under the Public Works Act, built their initial settlement in a clearing of the Seventy Mile Bush.

The Danevirke for which the town was named is an extensive Viking-age fortification line which had a strong emotive symbolic role for 19th Century Danes, especially after the site had fallen into German hands in the German-Danish War of 1864 - a recent and very painful event for these settlers.

The settlement quickly earned the nickname of "sleeper town", as the town's purpose was to provide totara sleepers for the Napier - Wellington railway line. At one stage the area had 50 operating sawmills. After the native bush was cleared, the land was turned into pasture for grazing animals.

The town hosts the Dannevirke Garden and Craft Expo, an annual event that has grown to a considerable size.

The Australian politician and former Premier of Queensland Joh Bjelke-Petersen was born in Dannevirke, as was rugby player John Timu, who achieved New Zealand international selection in both union and league.

Curiosity

The antipode of Dannevirke is located close to Getafe in the center of Spain.

External links

• Half a dozen locally-relevant profiled websites
• Tararua District Council
• Local page of GenWeb

Coordinates: 40°12′S, 176°06′E