Holtermann's Haul

Learn about the world's biggest gold nugget and the man who found it. Which is Bernhardt Otto Holtermann. Get to know him and where he came from.

Bernhardt Holtermann

Bernhardt Holtermann was born on April 29th in 1838 and came to Australia in 1858 and went on to find the largest gold nugget in history

The gold nugget

On 19 October 1872 Bernhardt Holtermann found the world's biggest single mass of gold.

Not actually a gold nugget the 1.5metere tall rock was made up of gold and quartz and an estimated 93 kilograms of that was gold!

Landscape

Hill End is located on the southern edge with a central upland valley and associated gullies forming low hills, ridges and gently sloping land within the village area.

Holtermann's story

In 1858, Bernhardt Otto Holtermann fled from Germany to Australia because he wanted to see the world and also because he had an older brother already living there , drawing him to the Australian goldfields.

What it was like

Crowded into settlements of 20,000 people, without sanitation and with tents only a few feet apart, disease spread quickly. Fleas, bed bugs and dysentery were regular visitors to the goldfields. During summer, there was a chronic shortage of water for both working and drinking.