Dalmatian Archive and Museum Auckland New Zealand

Our mission statement –

To gather, preserve and make accessible the history of Dalmatian/Croatian immigrants and their descendants in  New Zealand.

To serve people with Dalmatian/Croatian ties and interests and to raise awareness of the crucial involvement of our migrants and their descendants in the social and economic history of New Zealand.

Formed 19 December 1989 as the Dalmatian Genealogical and Historical Society our group began the development of the Dalmatian Archive and Museum in 1991. You can find it on the ground floor of the Villa Dalmacija, 10 New North Rd, Eden Terrace, in Mid Town Auckland.

Opening Hours – Currently we open by appointment only. See our contact details below .

Members’ meetings – with a speaker or activity of historical interest are usually held on the first Sunday afternoon of the month from March to November.

Our Newsletter is included the Dalmatian Cultural Society newsletter. Membership of the Dalmatian Cultural Society grants all members access to Dalmatian Archive and Museum group activities.

Our collections, listed below, are a rich source of information and images for social and family historians. We are happy to assist researchers. We are also very pleased to receive appropriate additions to our holdings whether in digital or physical form.

Collections

  1. Family and personal photographs, documents, stories and oral history recordings.
  2. Research materials collected and used by published historians.
  3. Books containing information about our settlers and about their culture and country of origin.
  4. Kauri Gum – fine examples of a variety of Kauri gum and the paraphernalia that was part of the industry.
  5. Wine Industry.
  6. Fishing
  7. Fish shops and restaurants.
  8. Orchardists (West Auckland)
  9. Stone masons and Basalt Quarries (Mt. Wellington).
  10. WW1 and WW2 (social history and service personnel).
  11. National Costumes from a variety of regions of the former Yugoslavia and costumes designed and made for Kolo dancers in New Zealand.
  12. Photographs of all the Kolo dance groups since 1930s.

Contact – email [email protected] , Phone (09) 303 0366 – Archive office,

or mob. 021 02750659 -Slavenka Misa (Secretary), (09) 629 2353 Linda Tolich (Treasurer)

Mailing address – PO Box 8479 Newmarket

We have authentic and replica folk costumes from many regions of Croatia and the former Yugoslavia.
Dalmatian fishermen, fishing boats and processing plants formed the majority of Auckland’s fishing industry by the mid-20th century.
Birdwood Estate Vineyard was established by Simun Ujdur in 1914 with plantings of Malbec, Pinot, Muscat, Siebel and Isabella grapes. He played a leading role in the early days of the wine industry and served as president (1926-46) of the Viticultural Association of NZ. The names of his fellow west Auckland Dalmatian winemakers are renowned in NZ and abroad: Babich, Nobilo, Mazuran, Brajkovich, Fredatovich, Soljan, Delegat, to name a few.
Our display books contain many photographs, clippings and information about our community and families. There are over 30 years of accumulated documentation and other books and materials accessible for research with the assistance of our team of volunteers.
A sample of our wine label collection. These are from wine produced by the Birdwood estate of pioneer winemaker Simun Ujdur.
This is a gum digger's 'Skelton' spade. A special design that suited heavy digging with steel reinforcement high on the wooden shaft as well as significant ledges for applying foot pressure on the top of the blade. These spades were made in a range of sizes and weights.
Part of our kauri gum (kapia) collection. Digging out and selling this buried resin from the swamps of Northland, Auckland and Coromandel provided seed capital for early Dalmatian settlers. It was a valuable export from 1880 to 1930 though its price regularly fluctuated to the detriment of the diggers.