‘Our centre of life is firmly here’
Sven Hanne has no regrets about moving from Germany to New Zealand. He talks to Deena Coster.
As a teenager, Sven Hanne already had plans to leave Germany. But it wasn’t until he was 27 that he made the move, leaving behind his flat, car park and family.
His destination only needed one, definite prerequisite.
‘‘It had to be English speaking,’’ Hanne said.
Hanne, who is the chief executive of the Stratford District Council, began his Kiwi life in Auckland.
He spent the first 10 months of his time in New Zealand’s biggest city, studying towards a diploma in engineering.
‘‘But I had too much fun and turned that into a Masters,’’ Hanne said.
Three-and-a-half years later, including a stint as a university lecturer, Hanne said he realised he was in the country for the long haul.
‘‘At that point I decided I wasn’t going back to Germany and I had to get a real job.’’
He lived in Hamilton for five years, where he worked for the council, before taking another role in local government in Tauranga. In between, he met his wife, and fellow immigrant Ilona, who hails from the United Kingdom.
It was while living in Tauranga, that Hanne first saw a job advertised at the Stratford District Council
‘‘Admittedly, I had been to Stratford only once before that.’’
Leaving the coast and moving to small town Taranaki had definitely not been a backwards step, according to Hanne.
‘‘I have to say the opportunities have been coming ever since we came here.’’
He said Stratford is ‘‘absolutely phenomenal’’ in terms of the quality of life, especially for his three children, aged between 5-12 years.
‘‘Our social support network has never been as strong as it has been in Stratford,’’ he said. ‘‘Our centre of life is firmly here.’’
Hanne still speaks with a noticeable German accent but it’s probably the only hint you would get of where he originally comes from. ‘‘I do often get asked and people are genuinely interested,’’ he said.
Sometimes people wrongly guess he is South African but he has never had a negative response from people to his German heritage, even in light of the country’s somewhat notorious history. ‘‘I’ve genuinely not felt it.’’ He speaks German from time to time, whenever overseas visitors arrive or during phone calls back home but his connection with his homeland has weakened over time.
Hanne said he’s only been back home about four times in the last 18 years.
He still retains his German citizenship, but this is more for the opportunities it might afford his children when they get older, rather than for any benefits it provides to him.
‘‘I would have no emotional problems giving up my German citizenship.’’
In fact, the 44-year-old is now a permanent resident.
Whenever he is asked by people where he is from now, the first answer is New Zealand, quickly followed by his hometown of Stratford.
‘‘Absolutely. There’s no debate.’’