The George Street Reserve
The Straube family were living at Port Fairy when Frederich bought the land at Doncaster. His father had died the previous year. Now 22 years old, Frederich was head of the family. He built a house on the high land in the position of the car park behind Schramm's cottage. This handful of German pioneers were followed by others and in a few years a German settlement had formed in the area. They called it "Waldau" meaning "a clearing in the forest". The land was heavily timbered with stringy-bark and box. The only cleared land was on the farms. The roads were given German names. Victoria Street was called Bismark Street, and King Street was named Wilhelm Street. George Street was known as Waldau Lane by the Germans and German Lane by the English settlers.
Straube was one on the leaders of the settlement. The first Lutheran church services were held in Straube's house and when the congregation decided to build a church he donated a block of his land for a nominal sum.
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| 1977 02 DTHS Newsletter |
Frederich Straube married Antoni, the younger sister of his neighbour‘s wife, Mutter Thiele. They built a second house to live in alongside the other.
In 1861, the Straube family moved to Mount Gambier and later went to Fiji. In 1870, the western block containing the site of the George Street Reserve was bought by Henry Finger. The Finger family had come from Silesia in 1850 and settled at Hawthorn on the site of Wattle Road. Henry married Caroline Aumann the daughter of a Doncaster pioneer and came to Waldau. He planted an orchard on the lower land and a vineyard on the slopes at the rear. (His home which stood on the site of Yalleroo Court was classified by the National Trust.)
After Henry Finger's death in 1884, the land was divided between his two sons Ferdinand and John Finger. They tossed a coin; Ferdinand won the block with the house and John the block that became the reserve. Mrs. Finger was given the block on the corner of Victoria and George Streets. However, she exchanged this land for a block further back, being afraid that the traffic noise at the corner would disturb her.
John Finger was a well-liked man who believed in doing things properly. He was thorough - time and effort meant nothing when it came to carrying out a job. In 1890, he built the house that now stands in the centre of the reserve. The bricks were baked on the site from clay quarried across the creek.
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| Dam in Ruffey's Creek built by Henry Finger. at the rear of his house in George Street, East Doncaster. A narrow footbridge with five small children standing on it. The dam was fitted with a flood gate. DTHS Archive dp0420 |
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| Dam in Ruffey's Creek built by Henry Finger. at the rear of his house in George Street, East Doncaster. DTHS Archive dp0421 |
Behind the house, John Finger built a dam which was remarkable as a private engineering project. The dam wall was directly behind the house and the lake in the position of the athletic track. The wall was so wide that it carried a road and a row of pine trees. A bridge crossed a wide brick spillway on one side of the dam. The bridge itself was solid, being built of thick logs that spanned brick piers. Thinner logs formed a deck. This was covered with a layer of rock which was surfaced with clay and gravel.
During the 1920‘s, the orchard was taken over by John Finger's son-in-law, Frederich Rieschiech. The depression of the 1930's was a difficult time for orchardists and John returned to take over the orchard again. In 1943, John Finger died. The orchard remained in trust for several years until John's grandson, Alan Rieschieck, returned from the war and purchased the property. He ran the orchard until the Council made the reserve.
The George Street Reserve could just as well have been known as Finger's Reserve. It was the same family, just a different generation. Ferdinand Finger had also been a member of the Council.
Irvine Green writing in 1977 02 DTHS Newsletter
Rieschiech's Reserve:
Rieschiech's Reserve:
http://www.manningham.vic.gov.au/rieschiecks-reserve
Until the European incursion into the region, its first people, the Wurundjeri, routinely moved around Manningham’s many comfortable sites in accordance with cultural patterns developed over many thousands of years. In summer the river flats around the Yarra River were a very comfortable place for the Wurundjeri people to settle as food was plentiful, especially around the billabongs. During the wetter colder season when the river was prone to flooding, they moved to higher country in the region with its abundance of timber and fur skinned animals. Movement was a natural part of the settlement pattern for the Wurundjeri. With the coming of the Europeans that pattern was gravely and permanently disrupted. Investigation into the potential existence of Aboriginal heritage sites of significance within Rieschiecks Reserve revealed there is no record of Aboriginal cultural heritage or of any notified places.* Part of the study site has a Cultural Heritage Sensitive Overlay as it is located within 200 metres of Ruffey Creek (Refer Figure 1.2.1). Cultural Heritage Management Plans are mandatory for listed high impact activities proposed in this area of the overlay. As this relates specifically to undeveloped sites and given the extent of major earthworks that have already occurred in the Reserve, it potentially affects patches of the Reserve such as works proposed on the hillside above Muriel Green Drive and undeveloped areas of Schramms Cottage such as the south-west corner behind the machinery shed. As there is no evidence of significant ground disturbance in this area, proposed works may require a Cultural Heritage Management Plan at the design stage.
European settlement commenced in the 1850’s predominantly by German settler orchardists and the small settlement was known as Waldau (which means clearing in the forest). Over time, orchardists planted the large areas of Pine trees in the area that still exist today. A Lutheran church, the first one in Doncaster, was built on the present day Schramms Cottage site in 1858. Adjacent to the church was Waldau Cemetery, where approximately 150 burials took place between 1854 and 1888. It is a rare surviving example of an independent denominational burial ground in the City of Manningham demonstrating the strong German/ Lutheran history of the area. The church was later replaced further south along Victoria Street. Schramms Cottage, an historic stone cottage originally situated in Doncaster Road (at the site of the Municipal Offices), was relocated to the site of the original Lutheran Church building in Victoria Street in 1971. There are Eugene von Guerard drawings dated 1859 of Waldau and the Lutheran Church. Like much of the City of Manningham, the area around Rieschiecks Reserve was predominantly covered in fruit orchards for over 100 years before residential subdivision began. The Finger family owned and operated an orchard from 1870 to the 1960’s on the Rieschiecks Reserve site.
Carl Heinrich (Henry) Finger (1831-1884) purchased fifty acres of land on the corner of Waldau or German Lane (now known as George Street) from Friedrich Straube (of which, a part now forms the current Rieschiecks Reserve), in addition to other land in Waldau in 1870. John Finger (1867-1942) built a house called Heimat on the land acquired from his father shortly after his marriage to Christine Hartwich in June 1889. The house was built on the southern side of the large orchard property facing George Street where it still stands in Rieschiecks Reserve. Finger's orchards contained mainly lemon trees. John and Christine Finger had four daughters of whom their eldest daughter, Bertha Caroline and her husband Friedrich (Fritz) Rieschieck moved into Heimat continuing the lemon orchards. Bertha Rieschieck died in 1965 and Fritz in 1968. Housing estates began to replace orchards in the 1960s and Council purchased the remaining ten hectares of the house and orchard property with the view to turn it into a public reserve in 1967.
*Sources:
1) The City of Doncaster and Templestowe – The Archaeological Survey of Aboriginal Sites, Isabel Ellender 1991
2) Manningham. From Country to City, Pertzel and Walters, 2001
3) Manningham Planning Scheme
Rieschiecks Reserve Conservation Management Plan, 2008
During the 1920‘s, the orchard was taken over by John Finger's son-in-law, Frederich Rieschiech. The depression of the 1930's was a difficult time for orchardists and John returned to take over the orchard again. In 1943, John Finger died. The orchard remained in trust for several years until John's grandson, Alan Rieschieck, returned from the war and purchased the property. He ran the orchard until the Council made the reserve.
The George Street Reserve could just as well have been known as Finger's Reserve. It was the same family, just a different generation. Ferdinand Finger had also been a member of the Council.
Irvine Green writing in 1977 02 DTHS Newsletter
Rieschiech's Reserve:
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| Rieschiech's Reserve - Google Maps |
Rieschiech's Reserve:
- Schramms Cottage
- Owens Reserve
- Heimat Centre
- Athletics track and facilities
- Scout hall
- Football/ cricket oval
- Playground
- Passive open space.
- Inclusion of Kevin Heinze GROW
http://www.manningham.vic.gov.au/rieschiecks-reserve
Rieschiech's Reserve - 1.2 Site History
Until the European incursion into the region, its first people, the Wurundjeri, routinely moved around Manningham’s many comfortable sites in accordance with cultural patterns developed over many thousands of years. In summer the river flats around the Yarra River were a very comfortable place for the Wurundjeri people to settle as food was plentiful, especially around the billabongs. During the wetter colder season when the river was prone to flooding, they moved to higher country in the region with its abundance of timber and fur skinned animals. Movement was a natural part of the settlement pattern for the Wurundjeri. With the coming of the Europeans that pattern was gravely and permanently disrupted. Investigation into the potential existence of Aboriginal heritage sites of significance within Rieschiecks Reserve revealed there is no record of Aboriginal cultural heritage or of any notified places.* Part of the study site has a Cultural Heritage Sensitive Overlay as it is located within 200 metres of Ruffey Creek (Refer Figure 1.2.1). Cultural Heritage Management Plans are mandatory for listed high impact activities proposed in this area of the overlay. As this relates specifically to undeveloped sites and given the extent of major earthworks that have already occurred in the Reserve, it potentially affects patches of the Reserve such as works proposed on the hillside above Muriel Green Drive and undeveloped areas of Schramms Cottage such as the south-west corner behind the machinery shed. As there is no evidence of significant ground disturbance in this area, proposed works may require a Cultural Heritage Management Plan at the design stage.
European settlement commenced in the 1850’s predominantly by German settler orchardists and the small settlement was known as Waldau (which means clearing in the forest). Over time, orchardists planted the large areas of Pine trees in the area that still exist today. A Lutheran church, the first one in Doncaster, was built on the present day Schramms Cottage site in 1858. Adjacent to the church was Waldau Cemetery, where approximately 150 burials took place between 1854 and 1888. It is a rare surviving example of an independent denominational burial ground in the City of Manningham demonstrating the strong German/ Lutheran history of the area. The church was later replaced further south along Victoria Street. Schramms Cottage, an historic stone cottage originally situated in Doncaster Road (at the site of the Municipal Offices), was relocated to the site of the original Lutheran Church building in Victoria Street in 1971. There are Eugene von Guerard drawings dated 1859 of Waldau and the Lutheran Church. Like much of the City of Manningham, the area around Rieschiecks Reserve was predominantly covered in fruit orchards for over 100 years before residential subdivision began. The Finger family owned and operated an orchard from 1870 to the 1960’s on the Rieschiecks Reserve site.
Carl Heinrich (Henry) Finger (1831-1884) purchased fifty acres of land on the corner of Waldau or German Lane (now known as George Street) from Friedrich Straube (of which, a part now forms the current Rieschiecks Reserve), in addition to other land in Waldau in 1870. John Finger (1867-1942) built a house called Heimat on the land acquired from his father shortly after his marriage to Christine Hartwich in June 1889. The house was built on the southern side of the large orchard property facing George Street where it still stands in Rieschiecks Reserve. Finger's orchards contained mainly lemon trees. John and Christine Finger had four daughters of whom their eldest daughter, Bertha Caroline and her husband Friedrich (Fritz) Rieschieck moved into Heimat continuing the lemon orchards. Bertha Rieschieck died in 1965 and Fritz in 1968. Housing estates began to replace orchards in the 1960s and Council purchased the remaining ten hectares of the house and orchard property with the view to turn it into a public reserve in 1967.
*Sources:
1) The City of Doncaster and Templestowe – The Archaeological Survey of Aboriginal Sites, Isabel Ellender 1991
2) Manningham. From Country to City, Pertzel and Walters, 2001
3) Manningham Planning Scheme
Rieschiecks Reserve Conservation Management Plan, 2008
Rieschieks Reserve Sport Centre
Rieschiecks Reserve Sport Centre June2023
Rieschiecks Reserve Source: https://yoursay.manningham.vic.gov.au/rieschiecks-reserve-sporting-pavilion June2023
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