New Commemorative Plaque added to Schramms Cottage Garden

In March 2026, The Craig Neher Schramm family commissioned a commemorative plaque in remembrance of their ancestors.  

In the past, the ashes of Alix, Charles and Michael have been scattered in the Schramm Cottage garden.

Text reads:  IN LOVING MEMORY - ALIX MINNA LOUISE CRAIG, nee Neher - 7 July 1897 - 5 November 1979 (daughter of Rachel Eliza Neher, née Schramm, and Wilhelm Karl Neher) with her sons CHARLES LINDSAY CRAIG 9 July 1928 - 15 February 2015 and MICHAEL LINDSAY CRAIG 9 February 1931-20 November 2023 - Die Vogelein schweigen im Walde -

The quotation "Die Vogelein schweigen im Walde" on the plaque is borrowed from Goethe's poem "Über allen Gipfeln" (Wanderer's Nightsong II) often considered the perhaps most perfect lyric in the German language:

Über allen Gipfeln (O'er all the hilltops)

Ist Ruh, (Is quiet now,)

In allen Wipfeln (In all the treetops)

Spürest du (Hearest thou)

Kaum einen Hauch; (Hardly a breath;)

Die Vögelein schweigen im Walde. (The birds are asleep in the trees:)

Warte nur, balde (Wait, soon like these)

Ruhest du auch. (Thou too shalt rest.)

The plaque, created by Robert Starc of Melbourne Headstones, was placed at the edge of the garden adjacent to the kitchen.

Alistair Craig (Michael Craig's Son) beside the newly placed plaque with the bunya tree and the cemetery in the background. March 2026