Franz Josef / Waiau
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Franz Josef is a small town in the West Coast region of the South Island of New Zealand. Whataroa is 32 kilometres to the north-east, and the township of Fox Glacier is 23 kilometres to the south-west
Franz Josef (middle left), next to the Waiho River, as seen from Alex Knob
Grahams Hotel at the toe of the Franz Josef Glacier, 1932. Established about 1911 by the Graham brothers and run by them it was sold to the New Zealand Government in 1947
State Highway 6 running through Franz Josef
St James Church, 2020
Julius von Haast
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Sir Johann Franz Julius von Haast was a German-born New Zealand explorer, geologist, and founder of the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch.
Franz Josef / Waiau
…south, through the town, and into the Tasman Sea to the north-west. Local Māori called the area Waiau, which means swirling waters. In the 1860s Sir Julius von Haast named the Franz Josef Glacier in honour of the Emperor of Austria Franz Joseph I of Austria. Though, the glacier and town should have been spelled with…
Haast in c. 1867
Julius von Haast
Haast with his wife Mary, 1865
Haast's grave at Holy Trinity Avonside