Carl StrehlowPrint Page

The memorial was erected over the grave in memory of Carl Strehlow, a Lutheran missionary who perished at Horshoe Bend in 1922. A service was held at the gravesite and a plaque unveiled on the 31st July 2022 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his death. 

Carl Friedrich Strehlow (23 December 1871 – 20 October 1922) was a German Lutheran missionary in outback Australia who headed the Finke River Mission in Hermannsburg, Northern Territory from 1894-1922. He learnt and documented the languages of the Arrernte and Luritja people, and published together with Moritz von Leonhardi a seven-volume work on their culture. His son, Ted Strehlow, continued this work.

In 1922 the desperately ill Strehlow left Hermannsburg for a fourth and final time. He set out for Adelaide to receive medical treatment; the trip was arduous and protracted, and his faith in God was sorely tried; completing less than 150 miles (241 km) of the journey, he died of dropsy on 20 October at Horseshoe Bend and was buried there. He was survived by his wife, five sons and a daughter.

It would seem a rather sad occasion to spend two consecutive Sundays commemorating the death of an important person, particularly if their life was cut short at the age of only 50 years.

But that is what happened at Hermannsburg in Central Australia recently, as the community celebrated the life and work of Lutheran missionary Carl Strehlow. Carl and his wife Frieda are remembered for their service among the Western Arrarnta people of the region, and Carl’s legacy includes extensive Bible translation work and writings on First Nations languages and cultures.

Commemorative worship services on 24 and 31 July 2022 were held at two locations, one at Hermannsburg and the other 300 kilometres south-east at Horseshoe Bend on the Finke River.

The sermon text for the Horseshoe Bend memorial is etched on the base of the cross on Carl’s grave – Hebrews 11:25,26. Sixty people travelled four hours from Alice Springs to gather in the dust and burrs at the bottom of a small hill to ponder Carl’s fateful journey and hear God tell us that his big picture plan includes two important details. For believers in Jesus, there will be hard times and suffering, but we must look ahead to the gift God has for each of us – life forever with him. The grandson of Carl and Frieda, John Strehlow, who had made his own rather difficult journey to travel from the UK to Alice Springs, unveiled a plaque to commemorate the occasion.
LCA South Australia – Northern Territory District website and through Online Together eNews, 2022.

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