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

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Early life

Johannsen was born in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

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

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

: 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 southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

but the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

prevented this. When he arrived in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

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 wine-producing region and tourist destinati ...

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

Hermannsburg Mission The Hermannsburg Mission (german: Hermannsburger 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 soc ...

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 i ...

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 Deep Well Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia. Description It is situated about South South East of Alice Springs and East of the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory just ...

; 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 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 of major historical significance as the first major European settlement in Central Australia. Earl ...

(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 1909 ...

. Johannsen also served as a guide to

Walter Baldwin Spencer Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer (23 June 1860 – 14 July 1929), commonly referred to as Baldwin Spencer, was a British-Australian evolutionary biologist, anthropologist and ethnologist. He is known for his fieldwork with Aboriginal peoples in ...

and Leonard Keith Ward 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 Stefansson, born William Stephenson, was born at Arnes, Manitoba, Canada, in 1879. His parents had ...

. Stefansson wanted to compare the arid desert of Central Australia with the Arctic. Following the sudden death of Carl Strehlow 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 ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

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). Rev. John Flynn was the first superi ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

). 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 at the

Pioneer Theatre The Pioneer Theatre, also known as "Pioneer Walk-In Theatre" and "Snow Kenna's Walk-In Picture Theatre", was a theatre in the Northern Territory of Australia located in Alice Springs. The building was built by Leslie 'Snow' Kenna in 1942 and clo ...

and 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