Letter, 1859
Daniel Hoffheiser was born on September 22, 1836, in Hamburg. Nothing is known about his youth, but his fluent and nearly flawless letters suggest that he had a higher education. As a young man, Daniel is not drawn to the bourgeois career in his father’s timber trade, but rather to the gold of Australia. On April 18, 1855, he boards the sailing ship “Neumühlen” in Hamburg, bound for Melbourne, Australia. Various letters to his father in Germany recount the hard work in the goldfields, illness, and accidents – and the ever-present hope of returning home with gold. Daniel’s father practices patience, even though he would prefer to see his son engaged in the family business. He even supports his adventurous plans by paying a substitute to fulfill Daniel’s military service. This allows him to stay legally in Australia. Daniel holds on to his dream for at least six years, then returns to Germany – without the hoped-for wealth in his luggage. A few years earlier, he sends this letter from Australia to his father in Hamburg. He describes in detail the gold nugget shown on the letterhead. It is the “Welcome Nugget.” Weighing 69 kilograms and resembling a horse’s head in size and shape, it is still the second-largest gold nugget ever found. The find location is in Ballarat in the state of Victoria, where Daniel also digs for gold with hopes of finding the treasure of his life.
