The Long Walk! Perhaps the most amazing example of all concerning German tenacity in the ‘new world’ is the story of Karl Deuffel. Eleven-year-old Karl left Germany in November 1854 with his parents aboard the Merbz, the first recorded ship to carry German immigrants to Queensland. Karl, his parents […]
Stories/Yarns
Sad Death of a German Pastor
SAD DEATH OF A GERMAN PASTOR At Charters Towers. Poisoned by Mercury. Preserving Butterflies. Many persons in the town and suburbs (says the Charters Towers’ “Standard” of the 14th inst.), who had not heard of the sad and sudden end of the reverend Pastor Siegfried Krieg, of the German […]
Blown to Smithereens!
Blown to Smithereens! Local historian Peter Cullen, who has an immense knowledge and interest in oral history and the amazing stories of the many citizens now resting in the Toowoomba and Drayton Cemetery, told me of a most amazing case of a German-Queensland resident. The headlines of the ‘Darling […]
Tales of Otta’ – from the Lockyer Valley
Tales of ‘Otta’ (Otto) ‘S…….’ ‘And of course Grandfather used to explode and order him off the property and tell him he was ‘nuttin’ but a bleddy liar’. “You’re a bleddy liar, Otta, you better yet home go”, and Otto would reply, “No, Max, dat’s vat happened you know, dat’s […]
In Search of Hermann Lehfeldt
In Search of Hermann Lehfeldt Lonely grave of Hermann Lehfeldt, located in the bush near the Alice River, Barcaldine. Typical of the tragedy and lonely resting places of many our German pioneers is that of young Hermann Lehfeldt. Twin brothers, Hermann and Carl Lehfeldt, both 18 years of age, arrived […]
A Family Tragedy – The Wanka Family
A Family Tragedy Many German pioneering families had very hard and tragic times, but perhaps the most tragic cases of all concerns the Wanka family. Inthe Old Church of England Section 2 portion of the extensive Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery are four unmarked burial plots – the last resting place […]
The Sad Tale of a Lonely Rose Bush – ‘Heidenroslein’
The sad tale of a Lonely Rose Bush – The’ Heidenroslein’ of the Downs ‘Roslein, roslein, roslein rot, Roslein auf der Heide’ Photograph showing the lonely rose bush at Headington Hill – the young Elsie Nichterlein is buried beneath this rose bush. Toowomba Centenarian Gladys Huf planted the rose bush in […]
Stories A Pain In The Bum
A PAIN IN THE BUM The world-renowned golfer Norm Von Nida (‘The Von’) grew up in the German farming community of Serpentine Creek (now known as Pinkenba, Brisbane). He recounted an adventure in quest of juicy watermelons. ‘Times were tough during my boyhood years but there was plenty of food […]
