German Missionaries in Australia

Stephan Contemprée was born in Eicks near Euskirchen (Cologne) in the Rhineland on 9 May 1898 as the son of a farmer. His mother was Anna Maria née Kuth and when he entereTd the Pallottine novitiate in mid-1916 two of his siblings had died and nine were alive, Anna, Christine, Magdalena, Elisabeth, Katharina, Franz, Lorenz, Hedwig, and Adolf. He received his habit in 1919 and made his first profession in 1921 and his eternal profession in 1924 while he was attending the agricultural college at Limburg.¹

At age 29 he left for the Kimberley in August 1927 and half a year later he was on the mission boat Betty when it foundered 'about four miles off the north head of Beagle Bay' on a return journey from the Lacepede Islands with Fr. Spangenberg, Br. Herholz, and an indigenous crew of twelve. They spent more than three hours in the water 'taking turn about in the dinghy and swimming'. ²

The Northern Times 2 Jun 1928 'News from the North' ³

Newspaper articles found in Trove reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Australia."

Brothers Krallmann and Contempreé with Beagle Bay boys on the lugger.   Source: Archives of the Pallottine Society, Rossmoyne

Contemprée was sent to work at the Tardun farm which commenced in 1931. Photos documenting the farm work at Tardun for publicity show modern equipment. However according to Br. Bernhard Stracke, who arrived in 1934, the Depression was hitting hard, farmers walked off the land and sold livestock and equipment cheap, and although the Brothers at Tardun had 'a bit of a tractor', it was seldom used to save fuel.⁴

‘It was mainly through Brother Stephen’s undoubted faith and hard work that the new mission farm in Tardun was not given up in the depression years.’⁵

Br. Contemprée at Tardun (n.d.) The back of the photo is annotated in the hand of Fr. Bischofs, who became Regional superior in 1934. Source: Australien: Br. Contempree Missionsstationen Kasten 18 ZAPP	Br. Contemprée taking the last truckload of wheat to the train station, altogether 500 sacks from St. Joseph’s Farm, Tardun. (In the handwriting of Fr. Bischofs.) Source: Australien: Br. Contempree Missionsstationen Kasten 18 ZAPP

In 1937/1938 Br. Contemprée was in Germany where he was 'attacked by Nazis'.⁶ He was diagnosed with an inflamed spine but a medical certificate issued in Koblenz stated that he was still able to perform his usual labour. He arrived back in Fremantle on 8 February 1938 on the Esquilino.

In 1939 he was called to Rockhole to help prepare for the removal when it became clear that the station had to be given up. He became a co-founder of Balgo, 120 miles south of Halls Creek, after leading what has been described as an ‘Abrahamic exodus’ droving through desert country that took a year to reach Balgo. The following description of his efforts is likely to refer to this removal:

Brother Stephan was overflowing with industry. He would take one risk after another. Once he was digging a well and against all advice only took with him one Aboriginal who had just arrived from the Never-never and wasn’t used to labouring. He was supposed to wind up the buckets full of stones and sand with Brother Stephan. The winch took off and the full bucket whizzed down into the well past Brother Stephan. When Brother Stephan was climbing out, the winch flew off again and Brother Stephan fell back down into the shaft. – No damage.

Another time he was standing in an old bucket to be let down into a well shaft. The bucket took off and fell into the shaft. No damage, thank God. He lit the fuse and called ‘Up!’, but something was wrong. The explosion went off before he was able to rip out the fuse. I stood at the top of the well and stretched out my hand to give the last rite. He called out: ‘Up! I’m suffocating in this smoke!’ and we somehow manage to wind the 100kg of him back up. He had not been harmed. ⁷

Once he shot an ox for butchering, and went up to the beast assuming that it was dead. The ox furiously attacked him and left his horn marks on his chest. Also, Brother Stephan couldn’t wait for a camel to kneel down before getting off. Instead he jumped down, and got his hand caught on a rusty hook. No infection, and the hand healed quickly.

I was always worried what might happen next and was relieved when Brother Stephan decided to become the shepherd.

... Brother Stephan was a man with great enthusiasm and could work like a horse. He was a huge help to make a new start. He was a farmer by nature and afterwards returned to the Tardun farm. He didn’t like herding sheep and building fences and kept hankering for Tardun. ...⁸

In 1941 (age 43) he returned to Tardun, which he much preferred. Fr. Bleischwitz described him as a ‘real Rhinelander’, happy and lively, but he could equally fall into deep sadness.

During World War II the German Brothers were classified as enemy aliens with restrictions on travel and regular reporting to the nearest police station. Four Brothers including Contemprée attempted to gain reclassification as refugee aliens, being ‘most strongly opposed’ to the German regime. Bishop Prendiville supported their application:

Furthermore, it would not be possible for any one of them to return to Germany without persecution and imprisonment. In fact, one of the appellants (Brother Stephen Contempree) was attacked by the Nazis when he was in Germany in 1938. The German Monasteries in which the Brothers lived and were trained have long since been seized by the Hitlerite Forces. They no longer have an interest in the land of their origins, except to feel the inevitable sadness which must colour the thoughts of any liberty-loving German at the disappearance of liberty of belief and action in his native country.⁹

Contemprée was naturalized in September 1946 after much wrangling with bureaucracy.

In later years Br. Stephan suffered ill health and was allowed to go for a spell in Germany in April 1964. His declining health prevented his return to Australia, he spent half a year at the motherhouse in Limburg helping with the gardens and maintenance, and expressing homesickness for Australia. He died suddenly on 13 October 1964.¹⁰ Allan Macdonald, of the Western Australian Charities Lotteries Commission, Perth, sent condolences to Limburg.¹¹