The following extracts are taken from German
Settlement in the Rosewood Scrub: A Pictorial History
by Frank Snars.
Copyright (c) 1997 by Rosewood Scrub Historical Society
Inc. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise without the prior permission of the
publisher.
Even among locals few today have heard of the
Rosewood Scrub. Geographically and demographically it is
an insignificant part of Australia. Like the rosewood
scrub itself the name has all but disappeared. A ghost of
the past. Oddly enough we who speak of the Rosewood Scrub
usually mean not the scrub itself but where it used to be:
the cleared hills and valleys. Moreover we can't really
allow residents of the town of Rosewood citizenship of the
Scrub, as the original scrub didn't quite reach to the
town site. It covered only a tiny part of the State, while
the group of Germans who occupied it in the latter decades
of the nineteenth century comprises but a small chip on
the broad mosaic of our nation's multicultural heritage.
Not that this elliptical tract of hill-and-dale land west
of Ipswich lacks character or vitality. A coach-tourist on
the Warrego Highway traverses the narrow axis of the
ellipse between Haigslea and Hattonvale, gliding
comfortably over a well-graded highway glimpsing the
beautiful Marburg and Minden valleys and the high walled
spurs of the Little Liverpool Range. Don't expect to see
boys in Lederhosen or girls in Dirndls. Yet there is ample
evidence of German presence in placename reminders of
lovely old north German towns like Marburg, Minden and
Prenzlau. Most Rosewood Scrub road names still proudly
proclaim the routes to the early farms: Schulz, Neuendorf,
Kraatz, Claus, Steinhardt, Stuhmcke, Lukritz, Klibbe,
Kerle, Litzow, while in school and electoral rolls,
telephone and business directories and the sporting
results in the weekly Gatton Star German names
abound. Until the 1860s this tract of dry vine scrub posed
a temporary barrier to expansion. During the 1870s and
1880s, and a century after European settlement in
Australia, it was still virtually frontier land within
just 50km of the new State's capital. Explorer Allan
Cunningham had described it as impervious brushes.
The surveyors for the State's first railway line chose to
bypass it, while the squatters of the 1840s, 1850s and
1860s who vied greedily for the tastiest pieces of the
south-east Queensland pie, largely ignored it. Here and
there the less dense valley floors were used as shepherd
outposts. Yet the Scrub was by no means impenetrable to
the original Australians who for countless years had found
the fruits and wildlife it protected a bountiful source of
livelihood. Fred Gutzske, an old German resident of
Lowood, recalled some years ago that by 1870 the natives
had largely disappeared from the open country, and that
the Rosewood Scrub was the last refuge of a race reduced
by disease and loss of their tribal lands. He recounted
how they drove game from the scrub land to the Brisbane
River where the animals were caught and cooked and a feast
ensued.  Aborigines
fishing in the Brisbane River
There used to be between three and four hundred natives
camped in the Rosewood Scrub near Lowood. They would
form a huge circle and work their way in closer towards
the river. They made a dreadful din. Every bird and
animal fled before them. When they got to the edge of
the river they closed in and drove the animals into the
river. Then the fun really started. The natives went in
after the bandicoots and wallabies and had tucker for
days. They couldn't do much about the scrub turkeys.
They used their wings. Fred Gutzske
 The Argow Home
In the main the German settlers of the Rosewood Scrub,
like their English and Irish counterparts, were poor,
often pitiably so. They included general labourers (about
50 per cent), farm labourers (about 20 per cent) and a few
landless farmers and tradesmen. Few, if any, had the
wherewithal to pay their fares to Australia, fewer still
to buy farming land of suitable size for productivity to
succeed. They came under various generous migration
schemes like the new Queensland Government Land Act of
1860 that issued land orders worth 18 pounds to migrants
entitling them to purchase crown land. The ships they came
on left much to be desired. Steerage class passengers were
packed into narrow berths like sardines in tins. No wonder
59 of 283 passengers on the overcrowded Sophia
perished from typhoid and other diseases. The newcomers
were motivated by several push and pull factors.
Almost all were pulled by the promise and hope of
improving their humble status, of greater freedom, of
religious toleration, the prospect of owning a farm and
with it, independence. Others were encouraged by letters
from family and friends. The religious persecution that
sent waves of Lutherans fleeing to South Australia under
Pastor August Kavel and others had largely disappeared by
the 1860s. Nevertheless, a significant push factor
came with the Prussian army reforms of 1860, with
increasing militarism and the threat of a three year
draft. Germans battling on small acreages on the Logan
began to move into the Scrub after the 1868 Land Act
opened the Scrub to selection. Many came by barge to
Ipswich, by rail to Walloon or Rosewood then by shanks's
pony to Walloon Scrub (later Kirchheim, later still
Haigslea), Sally Owen's Plain (Marburg Valley) or Back
Plains (Minden). They were not the first settlers in the
Scrub; British settlers had already moved into the more
easily cultivated flood plains of the Bremer at Rosewood
and Walloon, and around Fernvale, Lowood, Haigslea and Mt
Marrow.
 Zerner's
farm at Kirchheim Doubtless the frugality and husbandry
inured by centuries of poverty gave the German migrants an
edge. Friedrich Müller from
Königsberg in East Prussia who brought his
family to Queensland in 1872, typifies the optimism of
these north German battlers. I worked on the
Ipswich-Brisbane railway and got well paid. At first
English people were preferred, but when the contractors
realised that the Germans worked hard, we were put on
straight away. I earned well, and when the line was
finished, I had about 60 pounds cash to my
name.… I acquired 120 acres, which I
occupied in 1873 - I think it was. I bought myself two
horses and a cart to take the family to our new pride
and joy. Two reliable Queensland work-horses, two
crates, one sack of grain, two sacks of sugar, one can
of tea - these were my household effects and my rations.
Of course the main thing - guns and munition - were not
forgotten. I harnessed the horses in Ipswich and climbed
on to the cart, but my wife refused to ride on top with
me despite my pleadings. She had our little girl on her
lap and preferred to go on foot. To stock the farm I had
purchased a dog and a goat. Proud of my retinue, I
twiddled with my moustache and imagined for a moment
that I was Bismarck and that I was as clever as Moltke
and as dare-devilish as Benedeck. We saw nothing but
trees. After about 15 miles the forest thickened and now
comprised what they call 'scrub'. From then on we came
across South Germans, who had settled in the district
six to nine months earlier. Several of them were busy
clearing the thick scrub, which was very opportune, as I
kept getting the cart stuck in ruts, so that I had to
call on these trusty Germans to help me out... I figured
that as I was a good horseman, we would be there in an
hour, since it was mostly downhill. But I had badly
miscalculated; my nags didn't want to go downhill, so
that I got stuck in every ditch and had to walk for
miles to fetch help. Finally I had to unload all our
belongings. That evening we reached my property, which
didn't as yet have a name. Today the district is called
Minden. Next morning we made an early start. Mindful of
the fact that a farmer has to drive his underlings out
of bed at an ungodly hour, I had equipped everyone with
an axe according to rank and size, to fell the bush for
a building site. So the chopping and building
began…On Sundays an occasional settler
dropped by and we would return the visit. They were
mostly from Uckermark, Pomerania and West Prussia - all
men of the good old school. We would talk and talk, each
in his own dialect interspersed with snippets of
English. Everyone knew how to say 'yes'. There were some
educated ones who could say 'Missus' and 'Mister', and
many others were used even nicer or nastier words. They
were all good men, and I soon got to know their wives,
very fine women. Anybody without a capable spouse would
be well advised to stay in the city. We are all
harmonious and peace-loving here. Everyone is as busy as
a bee. But whenever our grain and sugar were used up, we
would not hesitate to borrow. Thanks to the firm of
Cribb & Foote, who have a German employee, hundreds
of Germans were given help…Who in Germany
would provide credit of One Hundred Pounds, just because
someone has an honest face? During the second and third
years I was able to save enough for cattle and good
horses. Today I have ten horses and fifty cows, as well
as pigs, hens, geese etc. Dear Editor, where in Germany
could we acquire all that? How splendid it looks and
feels when we farmers drive to church in our Sunday
finery…Our buildings look fit for a king.
I have always discovered this wherever Germans
live…I believe the Kaiser himself would
be astonished to see us like this…. We
have very good wine-makers like Herr Wruck, so that
nobody needs to die of thirst. We are not being kept in
ignorance. Where could I have got a newspaper in
Germany?…We have two fine clubs in
Brisbane which often make us countrymen most welcome. Friedrich 'Hussar' Müller
Minden Pioneer. Quoted by Dr Alan Corkhill
These extracts contain some of the opening section of this
book and invite further reading. The remainder of the book
is filled with historical photos and annotations covering
such areas as farming, social life, buildings, education,
transport, the Wars, sport and leisure and much more. The
book is hard bound, embossed with striking gold lettering
on a burgundy background. It may be purchased
for $35 plus postage (Australian). Please email any
queries to:
rshs@gil.com.au
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