Kurt Hufnagel was born in 1847 in Goldberg , near Posen in Silesia . He was one of four children who grew to adulthood in the Hufnagel family . One of his sisters married into the Stünzner family , a connection that would eventually see his nephew ( and future brotherin-law ), Fritz Stünzner , head to Samoa . Kurt chose to become a seaman . He left home at 15 and served on a number of vessels as a crewman — on brigs , schooners , fully rigged sailing ships and eventually a whaling boat which took him to the South Pacific . In 1870 Kurt knuckled down and attended a Maritime School in Elsfleth , Germany , where he passed his ocean-going shipmaster ’ s qualification with distinction , in September 1871 . After further sailing experience , Kurt is believed to have signed on in the mid-1870 ’ s with the south seas trading company J . C . Godeffroy & Sohn , of Hamburg .
It was in the service of Godeffroy ’ s that Hufnagel rose to the rank of Captain . He plied the Pacific from about 1876 picking up cargoes . Smaller vessels fanned out from Apia where Godeffroy ’ s had its headquarters . Captain Hufnagel became proficient in long-distance voyages as well , according to Karl Hanssen ’ s 1906 speech . This probably meant that Kurt delivered his exotic cargoes of copra , coconut oil and cotton back to Germany .
This photo from the Hufnagel-Betham Family Collection , in Auckland , appears to date from the 1870 ’ s .
Hufnagel-Betham Family Collection , photographer Schmidt & Wegener , Kiel
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