Germans in Queensland - History in Pictures

From the 1850's onward many German migrants left their ancestral country to settle in the new colony of Queensland. According to the 1901 Commonwealth Census, 38,352 Australians had been born in Germany. Queensland, by far and away, held the majority of those Germany-born Australians with a total figure of 13,163. State Library of Queensland holds a number of photographs documenting these German settlers and their influence on Queensland society. Below is a sample...

Sketch of the German Mission Station at Nundah, Brisbane 1846. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 67294

Von Senden family. Von Senden was born in Holstein, Germany in 1852 and came to Australia in 1865. The family were pioneers of the Logan Agricultural Reserve. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 188898

German family outside a farm building in the Bethania area, Queensland ca. 1871. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg Sketch of the German Mission Station at Nundah, Brisbane 1846. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 67294

Holzheimer farm at Bethania, Queensland ca. 1872. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 20134

German settler and his family Rosewood Scrub ca. 1880. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 79545

Members of the German Club, Brisbane ca. 1890. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 54065

Class portrait of the students of the German Community School, South Brisbane ca. 1890s. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 10122

Family of Carl Heuschele and his wife Anna in Middle Ridge, Queensland. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 142721

A. Wegener & Son, Cash Grocers, Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba advertised to the German speaking population. Text is in German. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 102416

Second German Clubhouse, East Brisbane ca. 1896. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 168483

Gentlemen seated around tables outside the German Club, Toowoomba ca. 1896. John Oxley Library, State Library. Neg 168484

Advertisement for a cream separator in a German language publication, Queensland magazine 1898. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 62478

Herr Von Ploennies, the Queensland Consul for Germany, married on 9 April 1901. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 177767

Audience photograph of a Liedertafel smoke concert held in the Exhibition Concert Hall, Bowen Hills 1901. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 165980

Group of delegates to the Congress of German Baptist Churches, Marburg 1905. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image APE-064-0001-0014

Wedding guests and bridal party at a German wedding, Ropeley ca. 1905. The bride was Miss Johanna Nauman, daughter of Mrs. M. Nauman, of Warwick, and the bridegroom Mr. Leopold Schultz, son of Mr. Charles Schultz, a farmer of Ropeley, near Gatton. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 96063

Portraits of members of the Brisbane German Club, Brisbane 1907. Neg 173122

Kalbar in the early 1900s. Kalbar has a rich German history dating back to 1876, which is reflected in many historic sites and buildings around the township. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image APO-033-0001-0040

German Empire celebration at Enoggera, Brisbane 1908. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 39297

Images of the Lutheran Church in South Brisbane, St Andrew's Church in North Brisbane and the German Club in Woolloongabba. Also included are the German Imperial War Ensign, the British White Ensign and the Maltese Cross, 1912. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 20711

Social gathering at the German Club, Brisbane ca. 1913. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 54068

Glindemann family of Holland Park, Brisbane ca. 1913. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 37027

Members of the Goethebund at Beenleigh ca. 1934. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Neg 33869