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From Hamburg to Moreton Bay: Germans in Queensland

By JOL Admin | 1 May 2012

Couple and 13 feet high corn at Manitzky's Farm, Teutoberg, Blackall Range, c 1899. Queensland State Archives. Digital Image ID 2383

Each year Queensland State Archives celebrates Harmony Day by highlighting the contributions of a particular cultural group to Queensland’s history. On Wednesday 21 March 2012, Queensland State Archives launched a portable display and presented a seminar highlighting the records of Germans in Queensland.

Both the display and the seminar featured contributions to the foundations of Queensland made by the German missionaries and the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt; early immigration records, land orders and immigration agents; pioneering families and their settlements; and the great hardship and grief they faced during the war-time. Items were selected from records created by a range of agencies including the departments of Survey, Land, Education, Colonial Secretary, Police, Immigration, Premier and Chief Secretary, Supreme Court etc.

Research into the records of the above agencies found many interesting stories of the pioneering German families such as Manitzky’s in Teutoburg. According to the Oaths of Allegiance Sworn by Aliens Being Naturalised, German farmer Rudolph Manitzki (also known as Manitzke and Manitzky) was naturalised in 1888.

Dead Farm Files indicate that Manitzky and his family selected an agricultural farm of 80 acres in Teutoburg. When George Gibbings, the Bailiff of Crown Lands visited the property for an inspection on 28 February 1894, Manitzky’s were living in their 4 room house which they built of slabs and shingle-roof and the property was cultivated with maize, potatoes, fruits and vegetables. School Files (Correspondence) for State Schools reveal how the community got together and established a school for their children.

There are many interesting stories of pioneering families such as Manitzky’s waiting to be researched in our collection at Queensland State Archives.

 

 

The display, From Hamburg to Moreton Bay: Germans in Queensland, is available for loan to community interest groups at no cost by contacting 07 3131 7777 or visiting www.archives.qld.gov.au

For selected images from the collection of the Queensland State Archives, please see: Germans in Queensland.

Niles Elvery - Manager, Public Access, Queensland State Archives

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