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Dannevirke
Dannevirke (lit. "work of the Danes", a reference to Danevirke; Māori: Taniwaka or Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua, the area where the town is) is a rural service town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island, New Zealand. It is the main centre of the Tararua District.
The surrounding area, a catchment and source of the Manawatū River (approximately 20 Min drive north of town) has developed into dairy, beef cattle and sheep farming, which now provides the major income for the town's population of 5,640.
Before European settlers arrived in the 1870s, the line of descent for Māori in the area was from the Kurahaupō waka. The tribe of the area is Rangitāne, with geographic distinction to Te Rangiwhakaewa in the immediate Dannevirke region. The first known 'Aotea' meeting house was established approximately 15 generations ago (from 2010) followed by the building of a marae at Makirikiri near Dannevirke at about the same time as the first Nordic settlers arrived from Napier and Hawkes Bay.[citation needed]
The town was founded on 15 October 1872 by Danish, Norwegian and Swedish settlers, adherents of Scandinavism, who arrived at the port of Napier and moved inland. The settlers, who arrived under the Public Works Act, built their initial settlement in a clearing of the Seventy Mile Bush.
The Dannevirke after which the town was named is an extensive Viking Age fortification line in Denmark which had a strong emotive symbolic role for 19th-century Danes, especially after the site had fallen into German hands in the German-Danish War of 1864 – a recent and very painful event for these settlers. The settlement quickly earned the nickname of "sleeper town", as the town's purpose was to provide tōtara sleepers for the Napier–Wellington railway line, which had a station in the town from 1884. At one stage the area had 50 operating sawmills. After the native bush was cleared, the land was turned into pasture for grazing animals.
On 27 October 1917, much of the town's business district was destroyed by fire. The fire had started in the Andrew's Hotel on the corner of High and Station Streets at about 2pm. Flames blew across the road engulfing the Dannevirke Co-operative Association's store. As the fire spread through adjoining shops another hotel, the Masonic was engulfed. By about 5pm the Dannevirke and Woodville Fire Brigades, along with assistance from the local community had brought the fires under control. In total 27 business premises and 2 hotels were destroyed with damage estimated at £200,000.
Stats NZ describes Dannevirke as a small urban area, which covers 6.82 km2 (2.63 sq mi). It had an estimated population of 5,640 as of June 2025, with a population density of 827 people per km2.
Dannevirke had a population of 5,580 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 75 people (1.4%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 501 people (9.9%) since the 2013 census. There were 2,697 males, 2,874 females, and 12 people of other genders in 2,283 dwellings. 2.2% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 42.5 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 1,074 people (19.2%) aged under 15 years, 936 (16.8%) aged 15 to 29, 2,166 (38.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,404 (25.2%) aged 65 or older.
Dannevirke
Dannevirke (lit. "work of the Danes", a reference to Danevirke; Māori: Taniwaka or Tāmaki-nui-a-Rua, the area where the town is) is a rural service town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island, New Zealand. It is the main centre of the Tararua District.
The surrounding area, a catchment and source of the Manawatū River (approximately 20 Min drive north of town) has developed into dairy, beef cattle and sheep farming, which now provides the major income for the town's population of 5,640.
Before European settlers arrived in the 1870s, the line of descent for Māori in the area was from the Kurahaupō waka. The tribe of the area is Rangitāne, with geographic distinction to Te Rangiwhakaewa in the immediate Dannevirke region. The first known 'Aotea' meeting house was established approximately 15 generations ago (from 2010) followed by the building of a marae at Makirikiri near Dannevirke at about the same time as the first Nordic settlers arrived from Napier and Hawkes Bay.[citation needed]
The town was founded on 15 October 1872 by Danish, Norwegian and Swedish settlers, adherents of Scandinavism, who arrived at the port of Napier and moved inland. The settlers, who arrived under the Public Works Act, built their initial settlement in a clearing of the Seventy Mile Bush.
The Dannevirke after which the town was named is an extensive Viking Age fortification line in Denmark which had a strong emotive symbolic role for 19th-century Danes, especially after the site had fallen into German hands in the German-Danish War of 1864 – a recent and very painful event for these settlers. The settlement quickly earned the nickname of "sleeper town", as the town's purpose was to provide tōtara sleepers for the Napier–Wellington railway line, which had a station in the town from 1884. At one stage the area had 50 operating sawmills. After the native bush was cleared, the land was turned into pasture for grazing animals.
On 27 October 1917, much of the town's business district was destroyed by fire. The fire had started in the Andrew's Hotel on the corner of High and Station Streets at about 2pm. Flames blew across the road engulfing the Dannevirke Co-operative Association's store. As the fire spread through adjoining shops another hotel, the Masonic was engulfed. By about 5pm the Dannevirke and Woodville Fire Brigades, along with assistance from the local community had brought the fires under control. In total 27 business premises and 2 hotels were destroyed with damage estimated at £200,000.
Stats NZ describes Dannevirke as a small urban area, which covers 6.82 km2 (2.63 sq mi). It had an estimated population of 5,640 as of June 2025, with a population density of 827 people per km2.
Dannevirke had a population of 5,580 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 75 people (1.4%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 501 people (9.9%) since the 2013 census. There were 2,697 males, 2,874 females, and 12 people of other genders in 2,283 dwellings. 2.2% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 42.5 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 1,074 people (19.2%) aged under 15 years, 936 (16.8%) aged 15 to 29, 2,166 (38.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,404 (25.2%) aged 65 or older.
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