Carl Strehlow
Carl Friedrich Theodor Strehlow (1871-1922) is perhaps the most well-known of the missionaries. Under his guidance the dilapidated Finke River Mission rose from the ashes. After arriving at the mission as a young man recently ordained in 1894, he stayed there for almost three decades - the remainder of this life. He was a missionary, linguistic scholar and a humanitarian who left behind an immensely valuable legacy in his linguistic and ethnographic work.
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Hermannsburg under Pastor Carl Strehlow
Carl Strehlow is perhaps the best known of the missionaries to have worked at Hermannsburg. Appointed by the Immanuel Synod as their first missionary to Hermannsburg, he left a lasting legacy. He was not the only missionary there and many of the achievements in that time were a team effort between him and his wife Frieda Strehlow, co-missionary Pastor Bogner and the lay workers such as builders Mr. Hart and Mr. Haemmerling. Between them they rebuilt the neglected and dilapidated mission.
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Frieda Strehlow: wife, mother, pioneer
Frieda’s story is amazing! Born Friederike Johanna Henriette Keysser on 31 August 1875 in Bavaria, she fell in love with Carl Strehlow, within 36 hours of meeting him. Her love drove her to travel to what must have seemed like the end of the earth to join him on his mission.
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Carpet Snake Memories
Snakes are a fact of life in the Australian countryside but that doesn’t mean that you have to like them! The ‘little Helene’ in these anecdotes was the child of Freidrich Wilhelm and Minna Albrecht. These are her memories, as recounted to her niece Ruth. They provide a glimpse of family life on the mission at that time.
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The Albrecht years 1926-1952
Pastor Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht and his wife Minna Maria Margaretha (nee Gevers) inherited the task of implementing Pastor Stolz plan to make the mission more financially independent. This was the time of assimilation polices in Australia and the focus was on equipping people for a modern world.
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Theodor Georg Heinrich Strehlow (1908-1978)
Ted or Theodor Georg Heinrich (T.G.H.) Strehlow’s story is fascinating. The son of the missionary Carl and Frieda, he spent his formative years growing up on Hermannsburg Mission, leaving only on the tragic journey on which his father died. He returned to Central Australia many years later as the local patrol officer and anthropologist and picked up where his father left off recording the culture of the Arrarnta people and their neighbours.
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