Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand von Hochstetter & Johann Franz Julius von Haast

Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand von Hochstetter & Johann Franz Julius von Haast

Towering to the blue heaven two gigantic pyramids here stand, the one in front of the other, the wild majesty of which defies description. Between them glaciers of the second order descend, their white masses shining like molten silver, but only visible where deep rents seem to have cloven the mountain asunder.

Julius Haast describes the view on the northern bank of the upper Rangitata River. From Julius Haast, Geology of the Provinces of Canterbury and Westland, New Zealand, 1879, p5

The first scientists to systematically explore and catalogue New Zealand’s geology and geomorphology were the Austrian geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter and his German assistant Julius Haast. The two men met in Auckland on 22 December 1858. Hochstetter, a respected scientist, was geologist to the scientific expedition of the Austrian frigate Novara, while Haast was in New Zealand to prepare a report to a firm of British shipowners on the prospects for German immigration. At the request of the New Zealand government, Hochstetter remained in New Zealand after the departure of the Novara, to examine the country’s geology, physical geography and natural history. In late 1858 and through 1859, Hochstetter and Haast mapped rock types and landscape features in Auckland, the Waikato district and the central North Island, and Nelson. Hochstetter left New Zealand in late 1859. His subsequent book, Geologie von Neuseeland, was the first to describe and interpret many features of New Zealand geology.

Julius Haast, though not a trained geologist like Hochstetter, was to take his mentor’s work even further. Despite his negative report to his British sponsors – Haast stressed ‘the poor financial state of the colony and the Maori disturbances’ as reasons against German immigration – Haast chose to settle in New Zealand himself, leaving his 10-year-old son in Germany. After Hochstetter’s departure, Haast  was engaged by the provincial governments to survey the Nelson and Canterbury provinces, which covered all of the South Island as far south as Mount Aspiring. Despite his limited scientific training, this contract made Haast one of New Zealand’s first professional scientists.

As provincial geologist, Haast made extensive explorations of the South Island, assessing the provinces for their mineral potential, while at the same time making notes on the geology and geomorphology of the area. Haast found evidence – including landforms such as lakes and fiords formed by glacial erosion and other landforms formed by glacial deposition – to support what he called a ‘Great Glacier period’ in New Zealand, evidence of which had recently been found in Europe. Haast’s explorations of the South Island were vividly recounted in his 1879 book Geology of the Provinces of Canterbury and Westland and in his many scientific papers, including a controversial series on the moa.

Haast became one of the most prominent New Zealand scientists of his time. In 1862, he founded the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury. He also founded the Canterbury Museum, which opened in 1870, and in 1876 became the University of Canterbury’s first professor of geology.

By Rebecca Priestley

Medals and awards

Ferdinand von Hochstetter: Knighthood from Wutternberg 1860, hereditary knighthood from Austrian emperor, 1884

Julius von Haast: FRS 1867, CMG 1883, KCMG 1886, Austrian knighthood

Further reading

Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand von Hochstetter biography – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography website

Johann Franz Julius von Haast biography – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography website

Hochsetter's book New Zealand its physical geography, geology and natural history with special reference to the results of government expeditions in the provinces of Auckland and Nelson has been digitised, and is available to read online:

Read Hochsetter's New Zealand online - Early New Zealand Books website, University of Auckland

Julius Haast, Geology of the Provinces of Canterbury and Westland, New Zealand, 1879

CA Fleming (ed), Geology of New Zealand, Government Print, 1959

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga O Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image

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