QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Passing time on Tamborine

There were two petrol bowsers out front of the shop, and the children helped fill petrol tanks, wipe windscreens, and sell hamburgers. Not long after, Lothar decided to stock a few cuckoo clocks to sell in the shop. Stefanie joins the dots: “We had gone back to see family in Germany a few times, and visiting mum’s homeland in the Schwarzwald probably gave dad the idea. We didn’t sell any cuckoo clocks at first; until my uncle (on mum’s side) came out from Germany for a holiday and suggested they sell cuckoo clocks in a joint venture.” The Schafroths sponsored Sigrid’s brother and his family to Australia, and they increased the stock level from just two or three clocks to 10 or 20 with lots of teatowels in between to make the display more eye-catching. Sales did increase. A few years later the family decided to emulate ‘Black Forest custom’ and set up a German-style building for the sole purpose of displaying and selling cuckoo clocks and German souvenirs. They also opened a German coffeeshop and named the whole centre (post office, takeaway shop, petrol station, cuckoo clocks, coffee shop and all) ‘Black Forest Hill’. By 1987, it had become quite a tourist attraction for coaches travelling along the New England Highway!

Lothar made a big clockface in the carpark, and a ramp down to the cottage, and decked it out with timber. Then he imported his first container of clocks and the family was in business once again. In 1996 the Schafroths constructed the present structure and transferred the business wholly to Gallery Walk. “At that point I had just finished high school and was studying drama,” says Stefanie, “my brother Anton studied IT and my sister Angie was a travel agent. I went to Germany for 16 months and this experience helped me find my roots, by staying both with mum’s sister and then my dad’s parents. I worked as a barmaid and really felt as though I had found my other self. Mum and Dad had taught us German when we were very young so I had no problems with the language. Growing up in Australia, you can fight your cultural heritage. There’s always that feeling of being an outsider, especially at school, but my time in Germany helped resolve these issues in my mind. ‘When I returned to Australia, I became involved with arts festival management here on Tamborine Mountain and two years later I started doing part time work for Mum and Dad. This increased gradually and my brother Anton started helping with the clock repairs. In 2002, mum and dad approached us to take over the business and we committed to a five-year plan. In 2008, I married a gorgeous Chilean man and became Mrs Stefanie Wernkekinck. (Ironically another difficult and also German name as his ancestors fled from Germany to the south of Chile after the war.) “In 2009, I returned to university and graduated as a secondary school teacher and taught Drama and English part-time at Tamborine Mountain High School. After giving birth to our son, Ruben, I decided to venture back to the clock business with a generous offer from ‘Oma’ to provide childcare. Today mum and dad have retired although they still enjoy living above the premises here.” Stefanie Wernekinck holds just one of the dozens – hundreds! – of intricate, lively creations to be found at the Cuckoo Clock Nest. Images courtesy of Peter Ludlow and the Schafroth family.

Brisbane

Steiglitz

Oxenford

Labrador

Witches Falls

Mount Tamborine

Southport

Nerang

Surfers Paradise

Canungra

In 1993 the Schafroths discovered Tamborine Mountain, the rainforest-encrusted plateau rising 1,500 feet (457m) above the Gold Coast hinterand, and opted for another life change, so they sold the business to Sigrid’s brother and moved to their present location in ‘Gallery Walk’ on Long Road at Eagle Heights. A year later, they started a business at the St Bernard’s Hotel from a cottage just outside the pub, but the Schafroths were undecided about what to do, so they decided to see if their success at Cabarlah could be repeated.

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