QUEENSLAND'S GERMAN CONNECTIONS - PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Robin Kleinschmidt assesses some of the more spiritual drivers – more ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’, contrary to common perceptions – for Germans to embark for the Fifth Continent. German migration to Queensland declined to almost nothing after the 1880s, dropping to an average of just 25 per year from 1890 to 1907. Economic depression debilitated Queensland in the 1890s, diminishing the prospects of prosperity for immigrants, while the German economy was experiencing the benefits of earlier industrialisation. The German government was now actively discouraging emigration, even introducing regulations banning the activity of Australian immigration agents. Strenuous efforts were made to encourage those who wished to leave to go to the new German colonies in South West Africa and the South Seas islands. The last influx of immigrants before the First World War came in the first decade of the 20th century, beginning in 1908. It was small by com parison with the earlier movement, and was the result primarily of the initiatives of two German clergymen in Queensland. Heinrich Niemeyer had arrived in Queensland in 1883 as an evangelist of the Apostolic Church. In accordance with Apostolic practice he was required to make a living independently of the church, and so became a farmer at Grandchester near Laidley, in the Lockyer Valley west of Ipswich. Working among the German settlers in the region, he made many converts, for he was not only a man of strong faith but also had a commanding personality and excellent organisational skills in spite of a lack of formal education. He began a flourishing church at Hatton Vale which continues to the present day. In 1886 he was ordained as an Apostle during a return trip to Germany. In 1906 he decided to boost the numbers of his adherents through migration from Germany. He returned to Germany to recruit prospective immigrants among members of the Apostolic Church and was able to generate great interest. The Queensland economy had revived, whereas there was a serious decline in the German economy, particularly among tradespeople and the lower middle class in urban centres. However most of those who responded to his invitation were miners, craftsmen and manual labourers from Rheinland and Westphalia. Between February 1908 and May 1910 he sponsored three groups of German immigrants, a total of 778 people. Almost all were adherents of the Apostolic Church, and the few who were not were required to submit to the discipline and adopt the religious and social practices of the church. Why did they come?

Niemeyer’s people constituted a late example of cluster migration. He negotiated with the Queensland government the provision of land in areas being opened up for settlement for each of the three groups. He was also able to obtain for them conditions and services which were remarkably generous when compared with the conditions experienced by earlier settlers. As well as a reduced price for the land, they also received from the government tents for temporary shelter, corrugated iron and tools for building and farming. In areas where work was available, arrangements were made for the men to be employed on local road and railway construction until their farms produced enough to support them and their families. Niemeyer cared for his protégés not only spiritually but also in secular matters. Each group as they arrived spent time among the Apostolics in the Lockyer Valley to learn about farming methods in Queensland – or, indeed, about farming itself as, unlike the immigrants of 40 and 50 years before, most lacked any rural background or experience. Niemeyer also used his skills to induce young men from his congregations to take up farms with the newcomers in their new settlements to provide ongoing advice and assistance. The first group of 79 arrived in February 1908 in Brisbane. After induction in the Lockyer Valley they moved to Baffle Creek north of Bundaberg, where they suffered a frustrating wait of almost six months, living in tents on the bank of the creek, while the Lands Department finalised the surveys of the land which had been excised from a cattle station to provide their farm blocks. In 1911 a sugar mill was opened at Baffle Creek when Albert Kleinschmidt transported the plant of the recently- closed Beenleigh Mill to the district and rebuilt it, together with a small supporting township. A statue of Pastor Niemeyer stands on a pedestal in the grounds of the Apostolic Church at Hatton Vale, on the Warrego Highway between Ipswich and Toowoomba. Image by Diane Watson from monumentaustralia.org.au

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