QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

It took from 1921 until May 1923 for the postwar club to reacquire its liquor licence, but the white- ant infestation during its closure necessitated its demolition. Plans for a new club – constructed by local builder Paul Edward Tesch, a descendent of German immigrants who had settled in Brisbane and Maleny in the 1860s – on its present site at 416 Vulture Street, Kangaroo Point, were drawn up and the foundation stone laid on 17 June 1933. Fifteen months later the new building was opened. Above: Classic view of Brisbane’s German Club number two, with the decorative maypole added to the original negative by a creative darkroom artist of the time; sadly, the building was white-anted from within by neglect and decay during its closure and had to be demolished. Image (neg. 168483) courtesy State Library of Queensland Below: This small piece on page 40 of The Queenslander on Saturday 22 May 1915 advised the club’s closure for the duration “by mutual arrangement” with the authorities, sadly, a gentlemanly agreement which had to be repeated a quarter-century later. Newspaper clippings below and opposite via Trove / National Library of Australia

“The masquerade ball in the old School of Arts, under the auspices of the German Glee Club, last night, was a very successful affair,” reported Queensland Figaro (above) on 25 May 1889. “There were about seventy couples in the room, and the variety of costume was such as to make a very pretty scene … Shortly before 12 o’clock the masks were discarded, but the scene lost nothing of its attractiveness.” Image courtesy State Library of Queensland The new building became a meeting place which cultivated the German language, customs, and music. Celebration of German folk festivals was always popular, and benefit concerts and collections were held for members experiencing financial difficulties.

This unfortunately poor quality image from around 1913 is descrbed as “probably a Silver Wedding [anniversary]” and gives some sense of the pomp and grandeur of such occasions at the German Club. After the fire of 1889, the Club’s next great setback was the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The Club’s executive was compelled, in accordance with the Australian Government’s decisions, to close the doors of the German Club in May 1915. This meeting, in the presence of an officer of the Australian Army, was the first in the Brisbane German Club’s history to be conducted in English.

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