Berrima (23/02/15 - 24/02/15)

Our sole purpose for going to Berrima was to visit my old friends John & Lorna who I have not seen since we left Sydney for Cairns in 1987, although Lorna recounts that they came to visit Nick and I when we lived in the Blue Mountains, (1995 - 2001) an event that I am unable to recall.  But, that is not surprising as my Mother always said that I had a terrible memory.   So, Lorna must be correct.

The first night there were two other caravans, and they both left  he following day, which was just as well because it was rainy and overcast as we were not getting any solar power we had to run the generator to top up the batteries.

Berrima Reserve is a lovely little spot in the historic town of Berrima in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, on the old highway between Sydney and Canberra.

Our camp site at Berrima Reserve

View of the bush from our site

Crimson Rosella, one of many that were flying around

There are a number of historic buildings in the town and the village as a whole is listed on the Register of the National Estate. Notable buildings include the Holy Trinity Anglican Church built in 1849, the St Francis Xavier Catholic Church built 1849-51, the courthouse built between 1833 and   1838, the gaol built from 1835 by convict labour and opened in 1839 and The Surveyor General Inn which was built in 1834 has been continuously licensed since 1839. The notion that it is the earliest hotel in the area is supported by its continual license and being in the original building.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church

The Courthouse 

The Berrima Goal 

Beautiful Rose garden at the Goal... full of yellow roses

Outside of the Surveyor General Inn

Around the 1840’s, you would have found 14 hotels in or near Berrima but the population decreased when the construction of the railway bypassed the town and no new houses were built for a hundred years.

The Berrima Village Trust was established in 1963 to preserve historic buildings.

Although we had visited Berrima many times over the years, we were not aware that it was actually the site of a German Internment Camp and gained an insight into that period of time by going on the river walk which started at our campsite.

March 1915 saw the first group of 89 internees arrive Berrima on foot.  The goal was cleaned up and made secure for their internment. By 1918 the goal was overcrowded with nearly 300 internees.  They were locked up overnight and after morning roll call they were free to roam within a two mile radius  of the goal, returning for roll call at 5pm.  Some came with their own household goods and furniture and they had money to buy bread, meat and provisions from the local store.

Most of the Germans could speak enough English to communicate well with the locals.   It is reported that they were “polite and well behaved”.  By all accounts, they were also an industrious lot and they created gardens, built a bridge and a flotilla of canoes on the Wingecarribee River. People from other areas came to sightsee, to see the “Huns”, to swim and have picnics by the river. It was the Berrima’s first tourism industry.

Berrima River showing some of the structures the German Internees built along the banks

However, some people only came to cause trouble and pick fights and so the internees were allowed to erect a high barbed wire fence enclosing 17.5 acres of the left bank of the river for their own use which became known as “The Compound”.  The right bank was free for all to use.

The internees built Villa’s and Huts which, in time, extended far beyond “The Compound” along the banks of the river.  Apart from the many buildings there was a small school room, a bakehouse that served pastries and coffee, an open air amphitheatre on a bend in the river and of course, a still.

The camp canteen was managed by the internees as a commercial operation and the profits funded the purchase of German delicacies from Sydney, vegetable seeds, the renting of grounds to grow crops, buying instruments for the camp orchestra and purchasing materials to make Christmas presents for the children of the camp.  Funds were also used to employ internees who received no wages from their companies.

Education classes were established which included theatre, music, carpentry, joinery, shorthand, photography, drawing & painting, navigation and marine skills and wireless courses.  They even installed a generator long before the village had power.

School Photo, three of the four girls that were taught there.

The walk along the Wingecarribee River gives a fascinating insight into that time period.  The walk through the bush on the banks of the river has numerous sign posts with information and photos of the buildings that used to be there.  

One of the sign posts along the walk.

The Germans at the Berrima Internment Camp were certainly hardworking and made the best of the situation that that they found themselves in.  When the guns were silenced in November 1918,  they thought they would be leaving within weeks.  However, it was 10 months before the Germany formally signed the Peace Treaty in June 1919.  It was this waiting period that caused the internees much grief, creating depressing amongst all.

However, on 12 August 1919, the internees assembled to leave Berrima for Sydney via Moss Vale where they boarded a train.  Many locals had mixed feelings about the internees departure as the German internees had brought an alternative culture and much prosperity to the village of Berrima.