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Story: European discovery of New Zealand

Commemorating Tasman

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Commemorating Tasman

Abel Tasman made his voyage of discovery in two small ships, the Heemskerck and Zeehaen. In 1992 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands presented New Zealand with a sculpture of the ships, shown here. The gift marked the 350th anniversary of Tasman’s discovery, which began a long association between New Zealand and the Netherlands. It was commissioned by Dutch migrants who had come to New Zealand in the 1950s, and made by a New Zealand sculptor of Dutch descent, Margriet Windhausen.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

by Melanie Lovell-Smith

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How to cite this page

John Wilson, European discovery of New Zealand – Tasman’s achievement, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/1410/commemorating-tasman (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by John Wilson, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 May 2016.