Names
Australian Placenames of German Background
Kalbar/Engelsburg, Queensland
The rural town of Kalbar is located in the Scenic Rim region, about 65 km from central Brisbane. Kalbar used to be called Engelsburg. German settlers moved into the area in the 1870s when the government made land available. A reporter for the Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser visited Engelsburg in 1890 and wrote: "The early pioneers of the district must have had the "heart of a lion" to face the difficulties of clearing their farms piece by piece, and subsisting at first on the produce of what could be obtained from a very limited area." The reporter also wrote that the district was "occupied mostly, in fact, almost exclusively, by a German population."[1]
The area was first known to the British as the Fassifern Scrub, but the name Engelsburg derives from the first storekeeper, August Engels, who started trading from his home and soon opened a shop. He also began the first basic postal service. Fassifern Scrub Provisional School opened on 3 February 1879 but later that year it was renamed Engelsburg State School.[2]
In 1916, due to the anti-German atmosphere during World War I, the railway authorities renamed the railway station from Engelsburg to Kalbar. The Engelsburg School of Arts kept its name until 1918, when the people running the school voted by a two-thirds majority to change the name to Kalbar School of Arts.[3]
It wasn't until the 27th August 1979 that Engelsburg State School changed its name to Kalbar State School.[4]
Kalbar acknowledges its former German name through names such as the Engelsburg Methodist Pioneer Cemetery and the Engelsburg Memorial Park.
Photo by kind permission of Kerry Raymond [5]
Various German street names in Kalbar are connected with the early German settlement of the area, such as: Wiss St, Wienholt St, Welge St, Stibbe Rd, Muller Rd and Zimmerman Rd.
♦ Notes:
1. A Visit to Engelsburg. (1890, September 18). Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 - 1908), p. 5. Retrieved June 20, 2022, from <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125077138>
2. ENGELSBURG SCHOOL JUBILEE. (1935, September 30). Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld. : 1909 - 1954), p. 10 (DAILY.). Retrieved October 23, 2022, from <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118332195>
3. Kalbar Letter. (1918, July 17). Queensland Times (Ipswich, Qld. : 1909 - 1954), p. 6 (DAILY.). Retrieved October 31, 2022, from <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122007959>
4. History. Kalbar State School. <https://kalbarss.eq.edu.au/our-school/history>
5. Kerry Raymond. Photo: Engelsburg Methodist Pioneer Cemetery, Kalbar, Boonah Shire. Photo gallery: <www.chapelhill.homeip.net/FamilyHistory/Photos/Kalbar-Methodist/>. Accessed 15/11/2022.
♦ References:
'Kalbar'. (2018). Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, <https://queenslandplaces.com.au/kalbar>