Polynesian settlement
Auckland was named after Lord Auckland the first New Zealand governor.
The area around Auckland was already before the founding of the city by the representative of the English crown, for centuries by different tribes of the Maoris, the Polynesian first settlers of New Zealand. They appreciated the strategic and fertile location of the region. The area on the isthmus between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean offered three natural harbors – the harbor of Waitemata, Manukau and Tamaki – as well as access to the interior of the North Island via the Waikato River, which enters the sea south of Auckland flows out. The area was characterized by a mild climate and fertile soils. A total of about 40 volcanoes are scattered over the area of today’s city. Not all are still recognizable as such today, due to the grinding of the volcanic stumps. However, Mt. Eden, One Tree Hill and Rangitoto are unmistakable. The youngest volcano, which last erupted around 1,200 AD, is the Rangitoto, blood from the sky. A half hour ferry ride from the city center, Lanzarote has.
According to Abbreviationfinder, today’s Auckland was called Tamaki-makau-rau by the ancestors of the Maori, which means “Tamaki loved by hundreds”. For the reasons described above, the area around what is now Auckland was settled in several batches before 1000 AD by Polynesians who came from Tahiti, the Cook Islands and the Marquesa Islands.
As seafarers, the Polynesians preferred islands and shores as settlement areas. And so they first settled islands like Waiheke, Motutapu or coastal strips in Takapuna and Manukau Heads. On the mainland they began to cultivate the volcanic cones from 1000 AD by terracing them. However, they continued to live in the settlements by the water. They succeeded in cultivating the imported kumara (sweet potato) on the fields facing north, facing the sun, in Germany this would correspond to the areas facing south. The climate of New Zealand did not allow cultivation further south because of the lower temperatures.
A little later, the first large families settled in the terraced gardens on the mainland. Around 1400 AD these were fortified with fortifications called Pa. In the 17th century, almost only the arable crops were kept in roofed underground storages on the volcanic cones. The population lived at the foot of the volcanoes. The ancestors of the Maoris cultivated the arable land around the volcanic cones. A pie-shaped area was planted for a period of 2 years, after which it was left fallow and devoted to the next one. After about a generation, people had worked their way around the circular volcanic cone. The region of Auckland was settled by different tribes who were at odds with one another when the Europeans arrived.
European settlement
In 1840, Lieutenant William Hobson selected a 3,000 acre (1acre = 4,046.9 m2) area in what is now Mount Eden County for the founding of the new capital. Which was to be relocated from the north to the Gulf of Hauraki. The land was acquired from the Maori tribe Ngati Whatua. The area on the Gulf of Hauraki with its numerous volcanoes was already densely populated by the Maori population because of its mildness and fertility. In the same year the capital was moved from what is now Russell to Auckland. As mentioned, the city was named after New Zealand’s first governor.
Approx. 2,000 settlers settled within a year.
A rough map of the city had been drawn up by the surveyor Felton Mathew. However, contrary to plans, the city developed along the shortest route from Mt. Eden to the port. Today this is roughly Queen Street, which is the main shopping street in the Central Business District (CBS). In 1844 the street was widened.
The city prospered until the early 1860s. It formed, among other things, the military base for the capture of the southern province of Waikato. After the withdrawal of the military and the start of the gold rush, the city’s population declined. In addition, Auckland was no longer the capital since 1865, but now Wellington.
Only at the beginning of the 1870s did the city begin to grow again. Between 1878 and 1886, Auckland’s population doubled to around 57,000. Queen Street has been reconstructed and new houses have been built. The city’s economic base was speculative. The economy was based on overexploitation, real estate, agriculture, and timber. The speculative bubble then burst at the end of the 1880s. The population migrated, in many cases even from New Zealand. Auckland continued to shrink in the years 1886-1891. As a result, real estate prices plummeted. Even if the population of 1886 was not yet reached in 1896, the city grew again from that point on.
The rich lived on the hills, the poor in the valleys and valleys of the hilly city. This resulted in districts with different social population structures. The industry settled in the inner city areas such as Freemans Bay. Relatively centrally located houses that had run down were rented out to the poor. The rich, on the other hand, settled in Remuera. By 1950, social quarters had developed in the city, so that it was no longer the altitude but the neighborhood that counted when looking for a place to live.
With the hosting of the Americans Cup, the “water front” was partially redeveloped in Auckland. Princess Wharf and Viaduct Harbor are some projects from the time. The Tank Farm project in the old industrial area of the port is currently being pushed ahead.