They comprise a very large amount of New Zealanders in terms of heritage, with some 200,000 people from the country having at least partial German ancestry (approximately 5% of the population from an estimate in the 2000s).

Ranzau (now Hope) was one of several ethnic German settlements in the Tasman, where settlers planted orchards and vineyards.

Relationships with Germany were stained twice in the twentieth century, during both world wars and the New Zealand conquest of German Samoa.

Today, New Zealand and Germany have a strong relationship, and there is frequent movement of people between each country for work, immigration and tourism.

Many German immigrants, who today are mostly present in Wellington and Auckland, hold traditional Christmas markets and language classes, as well as Oktoberfests.