Marburg (Queensland)

Marburg is a small township of 536 inhabitants located 60km west of Brisbane, the capital of the State of Queensland, Australia. It is split between the City of Ipswich and Somerset Region local government areas. At the 2011 Australian Census the town recorded a population of 567.HistoryGerman settlers arrived in the region around the 1860s. The story goes that, when the station master of the nearby Walloon railway station asked the settlers where they lived, the settlers responded with 'ober dar'. He felt that 'ober dar' should have a proper name and since he had read an article about a town in Germany called 'Marburg' he decided to register their produce as coming from 'Marburg'. The settlers liked this solution and the name stuck.The timber, sugar cane and dairy industries put Marburg on its feet. While Marburg in 1868 was a wilderness, in 1900 Marburg had a courthouse, police barracks, a post office, two hotels, five churches, a State school, a School of Arts, several stores, a blacksmith, a butter factory, a sugar factory and a rum distillery. At that time nearly 80 percent of Marburg's population came from Germany or were of German descent.Marburg Post Office opened on 1 October 1879 (a receiving office named Frederick had been open from 1878), was renamed Townshend in 1917 during World War 1 and reverted to Marburg in 1919.Marburg grew rapidly in the first half of the twentieth century, as the main road from Brisbane to Toowoomba passed through the town's centre. Marburg became popular as a stopover for travellers.Marburg was the administrative centre for local government in the area, composing Walloon Division (1879-1903) and Shire of Walloon (1903-1917).