Rudolf Meincke – Fiddler on the Move For the majority of the population in the 1880s until the 1930s or later, particularly in the rural environs, getting away for either holidays or seaside weekends was unheard of. Most farmers were born, lived and died in their region, and more often […]
Latest Stories
A Man of Many Fiddles
Mackay’s Man of Many Fiddles – Herb Zillfleisch ‘Scrapsovarious’ – the home made fiddle constructed by the late Norm Boughen of Minden. Norm always thought his fiddle, made of red cedar top and tin sides, could match the famed Stradovarious for tonal quality. Herb Zillfleisch of Mackay, retired canefarmer, […]
Exorcising the Swine!
Exorcising the Swine Many of the early settlers had troubles with their pigs – particularly with differences from the ‘old country’ and getting used to farming ways and techniques more suitable for the new land. One well known incident concerns the Marburg congregation and the well-loved Pastor Temme who ministered […]
The Day the Pigs Took Over
The Day the Pigs Took Over (a story by Herbert C Heilig) The following story by Herb Heilig demonstrates the importance and attachment that the German pioneers attached to their swine. ‘Years ago, farmers who lived reasonably close to a saleyards, also a few who didn’t, would sometimes ‘drive’ their […]
Poem – When Billy Milked the Bull!
Vhen Billy Milked de Bull (author: George Essex Evans) ‘Twas in the dark before the dawn vhen all the ghosts were out The cows were calling quite forlorn for Billy to come out. ‘Twas raining too, a steady pour, upon the roof o’oer haed. So Billy gave another snore […]
Snakes Alive!
Snakes Alive – Serpents and the German-Queensland Settlers The new settlers to Queensland were not at all familiar with snakes, Germany being home to only a few small and harmless species. In the bush of Queensland I’m sure they thought they must be surviving in a ‘living hell’, populated […]
Gott ist Gute
Dances, Crossroads, Hexen and Healers – ‘Gott ist gute, but the divil’s not too bad either’! ‘In a storm, you know why they covered mirrors? Because if you looked in a mirror during a storm quite often you could see the devil, that’s what my grandmother said, so you […]
The Long Walk
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 […]
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 […]
