Good afternoon everyone. My name is Anneliese Hoschke and for this project I went to my grandmother’s house to ask her if she had anything that would suit this project and something did. Sadly I was not able to bring this item in as it was too valuable.
This item was an Illuminated address. From the 1880s to the 1930s illuminated addresses were a popular way to mark special occasions or outstanding service. This one was to mark outstanding service. It was rewarded to the first Hoschke that ever came to live in Australia. He originally came from Germany.
His name was Amandus Hoschke and he got this on the eve on his departure from Australia on the way back to Germany on a holiday. The date was 10th of May 1909. He first came in 1880. This is the front of the illuminated address which is black with words engraved with gold.
It says “ To Amandus Hoschke “ some weird numbers and letters and then tells the date “ 10th May 1909” This is the whole thing stretched out and what it looks like inside.
This is the first page which has a photo of him and his name.
This second page has a photo of the Main Street in Coramba which is the town where he lived. Coramba is up near Coffs Harbour. On the first and second page is a piece of writing about him and what he did for these people.
This page has a list of all the people who lived gave and chipped in for this wonderful present.
This picture is of the third house he lived in in Australia.
Thank you for reading to my project. I hoped you enjoyed it.
– Anneliese Hoschke
Many thanks to Anneliese for sharing her school project and her grandparents Fred & Ruth Hoschke for allowing us to share the photos of this beautiful hand painted gift. If you have any family stories, photos or artifacts you’d like to share with us, please email them to us on hoschkefamilyreunion@gmail.com
Hoschke Family in Australia 
Never heard of this…but man is that fabulous! I need to research this and maybe make one for our own home…thanks so much for sharing this. What a cool treasure!
Kassie aka “Mom”
Maybe someone should write that down…
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Wow! Yes, a truly amazing piece of history. Can I just check this: when the word “illuminated” is used in this web site, we are not talking about a “sign” that lights up, are we..? It is infact, a series of illustrated pages that – as in medieval times – may or may not have been embellished with silver or gold leaf as part of the graphic design to make the page “light up” and therefore seem to be “illuminated”. The “address” part of it is an exposition of the deeds of the person in question, saying how valued they were within the community. I just need to clarify this as someone in my family described this artefact as if it WAS a sign that lit up, hanging out front of the owner’s house
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Hi Sean, No lights involved, just a beautifully leather bound document, yes with gold highlights. It was handwritten and is a work of art 🙂
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