QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Mephisto’s new home

After a four week sea voyage, Mephisto arrived in Brisbane on 2 June 1919, the Armagh steaming upstream to the Norman Wharf in the very heart of the city to unload.

It took longer to arrange the relocation and display but, early on 22 August, two Brisbane City Council steamrollers towed the trundling relic through the streets of the city and Fortitude Valley to the Queensland Museum, then located in the ornate brick building on Gregory Terrace. Initially displayed outside the museum’s entrance, the great public interest which Mephisto attracted was underscored by a vigorous and successful public campaign to secure government funding to provide protection against the elements, and the tank’s iconic presence excited schoolchildren and visitors for more than 65 years. When the museum relocated to the brand new complex at South Brisbane’s Cultural Centre in 1986, Mephisto of course went along too. Unfortunately the Brisbane River floods of January 2011 damaged Mephisto in its ground floor home at South Bank, and the facinating story of his conservation and recovery begins on page 220. Seven replica A7Vs have been noted in museums around the world, although Queensland retains the only actual survivor of the marque. A7Vs are also available in plastic kit form (in 1/35 and 1/72 scale) as well as card and paper models.

Above and main background: Mephisto in its glass-encased home prior to the 2011 floods. Top: The Queenslander’s issue of 14 June 1919 gave great coverage of the tank’s arrival. Images courtesy of Queensland Museum

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