Gerhardt Andreas Johannsen (14 November 1876 – 4 April 1951) was a stonemason, builder and pastoralist in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Early life

Johannsen was born in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

on 14 November 1876 and, in 1899, he left to emigrate to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

: working his passage as a crew member. He had originally planned to emigrate to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

but the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

prevented this. When he arrived in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

he went to the

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major list of wine-producing regions, wine-producin ...

where he met and married Marie Ottilie (Tilly) Hoffmann in 1905. In 1909 Johannsen responded the a call for help from the

Hermannsburg Mission The Hermannsburg Mission () was founded as the Hermannsburg Mission Centre (''Missionsanstalt Hermannsburg'') in 1849 in Hermannsburg, near Celle, North Germany, by Louis Harms. In 1977, the independent mission society was merged into the work ...

and the family, which now included a three-year-old daughter Elsa Margaret Johannsen (born 21 June 1906), travelled by horse and buggy to

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...

Life in the Northern Territory

In Hermannsburg Johannsen erected buildings, stockyards and performed general repairs. He was often assisted by and taught Aboriginal men building skills. In 1911 the family left the mission and moved to Deep Well Station; where Gertrude (Trudy) Ottilie Johannsen (28 August 1912) and then Kurt Gerhardt Johannsen (11 January 1915) were born. Johannsen sometime left the running of Deep Well to contractors and took building contracts elsewhere, this included sinking wells, building the police buildings at Alice Well and

Arltunga Arltunga Historical Reserve, known also as Arnerre-ntyenge is a deserted gold rush town located in the Northern Territory of Australia in the locality of Hart about east of Alice Springs. It is on the lands of the Eastern Arrernte people, who ...

(alongside Bill Liddle) and working on the

Stuart Town Gaol Stuart Town Gaol in Alice Springs (formerly Stuart), Northern Territory, Australia, located on 9 Parson Street, was constructed in 1907, when Alice Springs had a European population of approximately 30 people, and held its first prisoner in 1 ...

. Johannsen also served as a guide to

Walter Baldwin Spencer Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer (23 June 1860 – 14 July 1929), commonly referred to as Sir Baldwin Spencer, was a British-Australian Evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, anthropology, anthropologist and Ethnology, ethnologist. He is k ...

and

Leonard Keith Ward Leonard Keith Ward (17 February 1879 – 30 September 1964) was an Australian geologist and public servant. Ward was born in Petersham, New South Wales and was educated at Sydney and Brisbane Grammar Schools then the University of Sydney ( ...

during their 1923 visit and, once again hosted Ward and

Vilhjalmur Stefansson Vilhjalmur Stefansson (November 3, 1879 – August 26, 1962) was an Arctic explorer and ethnologist. He was born in Manitoba, Canada. Early life and education Stefansson, born William Stephenson, was born at Arnes, Manitoba, Canada, in 1879. ...

. Stefansson wanted to compare the arid desert of Central Australia with the Arctic. Following the sudden death of

Carl Strehlow Carl Friedrich Theodor Strehlow (23 December 1871 – 20 October 1922) was an anthropologist, linguist and genealogist who served on two Lutheran missions in remote parts of Australia from May 1892 to October 1922. He was at Killalpaninna Missi ...

in 1922 Johannsen returned to Hermannsburg to work as the station manager before again returning to Deep Well in 1924. While here Johannsen started a tanning industry and encouraged gardening again. Mona Dora Johannsen (27 October 1923) was born at the Mission. Central Australia was in the midst of a severe drought and, Johannsen was experiencing poor health and had contracted polio myelitis, so after seeking treatment in Adelaide (where he had to say for 7 months) the family gave up their lease and moved to

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

in 1928. Johannsen's trip to Adelaide was enabled by Sam Irvine, a mail contractor, who made up a canopy bed for him on his truck and looked after him until they were met at the Oodnadatta railhead by

Australian Inland Mission The Australian Presbyterian Mission was founded by the Presbyterian Church of Australia to reach those "beyond the farthest fence" with God's word. It is better known as the Australian Inland Mission (AIM). John Flynn was the first superinten ...

sisters who assisted him on the train. However, in these years two additional children were born; Randle Werner Johannsen (10 August 1925) and Myrtle Edna Johannsen (22 November 1926). In Alice Springs Johannsen built a family house on Todd Street; what is now the site of the National Australia Bank (this was commandeered by the army for nursing sisters' quarters during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

). Shortly after this Johannsen pioneered the first mail truck to Arltunga, held the government contract for sanitary and garbage services (with his son Kurt), was involved in gold mining at Winnecke and mica mining in the Stranways Ranges; where the family lived during the war. Following the end of the war the family returned to Alice Springs and Johannsen retired from active bush work; a severe accident at Winnecke strongly contributed to his decision to retire.

Later life

In later life Johannsen was an active member of the Alice Springs Progress Association. Johannsen died suddenly on 4 April 1951 when he collapsed from a heart attack at the Pioneer Theatre whilst with his wife Marie. His funeral was one of the biggest seen in Alice Springs for many years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johannsen, Gerhardt 1876 births 1951 deaths Australian builders People from the Northern Territory