Redlands History
Opening Day 17 February, 1946.
Pastor Friedrich Wilhelm Noack.
The first mention of the need for a coeducational secondary College was heard in 1926 at the Queensland District Lutheran Convention. The nearest Lutheran College and training ground for Lutheran pastors was in Adelaide, 2 000 miles away. The Depression and the outbreak of World War Two further delayed plans.
However, despite the war, a College Board met in 1944 and after gathering 11 000 pounds in subscriptions, purchased the ‘Redlands’ building and its surrounding 25 acre property. We owe this new lease of life to the foresight and tenacity of Pastor Friedrich Noack.
A Gracious and Charming Building
The magnificent avenue of Norfolk and Bunya pines enhances the presence of the two-storey building, complete with wrought-iron railings, lead-light windows, marble fireplaces and cedar fittings and doors.
Under New Management
Built by Mr Wilcox in 1889, subsequent owners have been Dr Alex Horne and Dr Edward Farmer who sold Redlands to the Lutheran Church in 1945. Dr Farmer’s great grandchildren have been students at the College in recent times.
Open for Business
Pastor Rudolph Altus MA.
Professor Rudolph Altus MA was Concordia College’s first principal and through great courage and faith secured excellent teachers, buildings and equipment despite war-time constraints.
The official opening on 10 February was delayed by a week due to heavy rain. 1 500 people gathered on the lawns previously dedicated to croquet to ‘publicly open and dedicate Concordia college to the glory and service of God’ coincidentally on the 400th anniversary of Martin Luther’s death. ‘Concordia’ in Latin means agreement, unity and harmony.
The original 27 scholare, 23 of whom were boarders, were largely German Lutherans who had settled on the Darling Downs. Family names of Uebergang, Schumann, Schultz, Temme, Huf and Reinbott attest to German origins.
An Identity is Born
Concordia's first classroom.
Choir at the Concordia College opening in 1946.
The College colours were brown and gold like its sister school and seminary in Adelaide. Teaching staff selected the motto Nisi Dominus Frustra,Without the Lord, All is in Vain and designed the school badge.
Gone was the old dairy and the old well and it wasn’t long before a running track, basketball courts and ovals were established. Academic results improved to a point where the founding fathers were humbled by the goodness of the Lord in this ‘leap of faith’.
Wise Words
Teacher Mr Everard Leske warned students in 1946 that smug self-satisfaction was one of the most unbearable of human traits. ‘The only cure for this disease’ he said ‘is not to be satisfied with one’s opinions, deeds, present abilities and standards. Happy is he who has the power of only self-criticism and unquenchable desire to better himself’.
Concordia Lutheran College today espouses these timeless virtues in its students * an acknowledgement of one’s weakness, yet a confidence in unbounded potential based firmly on a Christian foundation.
Reference: Talbot, Don: ‘Concordia Memorial College’, 1990, University College of Southern Queensland Press.
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