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historic Wiss Emporium & Cottage

stephen/kristine — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 04:30:28 GMT

Welcome to Kalbar's unique heritage precinct containing the Wiss Emporium c.1909 and the Wiss Cottage c.1890. Built for Mr Lionel Ainger Wiss, this quintessential country store and dwelling enables you to experience a moment of Queensland’s past and colourful history.

Kalbar is situated within the rich, fertile Fassifern Valley in the Scenic Rim Region, fringed by the majestic and world heritage-listed Scenic Rim Mountains of South-East Queensland. This giant extinct volcanic caldera is only 60 minutes from Brisbane's CBD heading towards Warwick. Kalbar was first settled as scrub farms back in the 1870's by mostly German migrants. Originally the town was named Engelsburg but due to rampant anti-German sentiment which prevailed across Australia during the First World War and also to celebrate the arrival of the railway into the town in 1916 it was prudently changed to Kalbar - an aboriginal name meaning "bright star".

The Wiss Emporium is still the landmark building in Kalbar today and attracts interest from afar. Constructed in 1909 for Lionel Ainger Wiss (a grand old pioneer in the highest sense of the word) and at a time when only hand tools were available for use, it was quality crafted from magnificent timber directly logged from the original surrounding forest - clearly this was a time when buildings were made to last!

The Wiss Emporium was built to replace the original general store that the two Wiss brothers - Lionel and Campbell, first established in 1890. This small store was called Wiss Bros. and stood on the present site of the Emporium building and beside Lionel Wiss' first residence, now simply known as Wiss Cottage.

The new Emporium building was said to be six times larger than its predecessor, and in afterthought was developed into a classic early twentieth century "department store". It boasted of being Universal Providers, the House of Quality and sold a great variety of goods from the most delicate lace and haberdashery items to sweets, newspapers, produce, groceries, hats, boots and shoes, drapers, tailors, ironmongers, hardware, stoves, paint, household furniture, insurance, farm machinery, milking machines and separators, tractors and oil engines, petrol and kerosene. It also traded farm produce, acted as agent for major farm equipment suppliers, and offered substantial credit, doing much to assist local farmers. Today, following a meticulous and carefully researched restoration by the current owner, the Wiss Emporium and Cottage have returned as the Star of the Fassifern just as the Wiss Emporium was the jewel in the crown of the Wiss Family’s vast commercial enterprise in the early part of the 20th century. Both buildings are listed by the National Trust of Queensland due to their cultural heritage and significance. Much-valued and treasured by the local community as a link to the past and for future generations to enjoy, the Wiss Emporium is regularly used for specific community events and charity functions and is now open to the public every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Wiss Emporium is "almost famous" and is invariably used as a draw-card to encourage tourists and visitors to our beautiful Scenic Rim Region. It is highlighted in much of the principal advertising for the area, on tourist brochures, guidebooks, newspaper articles and television programs. Visitors marvel at the grandeur and craftsmanship of this intact, early 20^th century, huge timber building of a general purpose country store contrasted against the primitive construction and quaintness of c.1890 little workers cottage. This sharp contrast clearly illustrates the Wiss Family’s humble beginnings and their growth to establish one of the most important businesses in the town, as the town progressed into being the centre of a thriving dairying and agricultural district in the early part of the 20^th century.

Today both buildings stand proud as evidence of that bygone era. Come visit us soon!

Wiss Emporium

stephen/kristine — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:35:03 GMT

Wiss Emporium now offers visitors a unique shopping experience! Whilst not nearly as comprehensive as the range of goods offered in its heyday the former Universal Providers now contains an eclectic mix of high quality merchandise - high fashion, unusual conversation pieces, local/regional art and handcrafted finery from our best known artisans.

Designer label clothing
Fashion jewellery
High fashion accessories
Fine arts & ceramics
Cottage crafts
Photography
Timber miniature horse-drawn vehicles
Old world garden charm, ornamentation and furniture
Heirloom rocking horse

Architectural Description (for the history buffs out there!)

This store is located on a corner site fronting George Street, the main street of Kalbar. The rectangular chamferboard building, sits on timber stumps, and has a corrugated iron gabled roof with a skillion awning over the footpath. Four decorative metal ventilators are located along the ridge of the roof.

The street facade is a virtuoso assemblage of sheet metal in imitation of sheet metal in imitation of classical masonry detail. It has three arched windows above the awning, the central one being the largest and crowned by a pediment with the inscription WISS BROS. Pilasters feature to either side of the pediment, with the dates 1890 and 1909, and to the corners of the facade, and are surmounted by finials.

The building is embellished by the use of decorative pressed metal sheets, depicting a brickwork pattern to the front facade and floral and geometric patterns to the verandah awning, window display ceiling and sections of the store ceiling. The shopfront has three glass display bays with cast-iron columns at each corner of the central bay. There are french doors with fanlights, between each of the bays and high level, centrally pivoting hopper windows to both sides and rear. The rear has a corrugated iron skillion roofed verandah with two entry doors and sash windows.

Internally, the building has exposed timber trusses with diagonally boarded raked ceilings with a central flat pressed metal ceiling. The trusses are supported by central timber columns with timber arch brackets and some of the original timber partitioning, with turned timber balustrade capping, remains.

To the south of the store is the original residence, consisting of two small timber and iron dwellings connected by an enclosed verandah. A bulk store, constructed of timber with twin hipped corrugated iron roofs and lean-to awnings was formerly located at the rear of the store as was a large horse stables building but these are no longer standing.

History of the Wiss Family

stephen/kristine — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:19:56 GMT

Lionel Ainger Wiss had arrived in Queensland from Germany with his brothers, Campbell and Alfred, around 1887. They were German-born sons of English parents. After a short time in northern Queensland, Alfred returned to England and Lionel and Campbell moved to Ipswich, where they worked for grocers W Siemon & Sons for about three years.

In mid-1890 the brothers acquired an acre of land at Engelsburg, in the heart of the Fassifern Scrub district, south of Ipswich, which had been settled in the 1870s by immigrant German farmers. At this time, the township of Engelsburg comprised a general store, two saddlers, a cabinetmaker and glazier, a hotel and store, a butcher's shop, timber yard and blacksmith. The Engelsburg State School had been established in 1885. There were two Lutheran churches in the district, a Baptist church, a Primitive Methodist church, a Catholic church, and a small Salvation Army meeting hall. Much of the brigalow scrub had been cleared, and the surrounding district was dotted with small farm selections of 60, 80 or 120 acres.

On their Engelsburg property, adjacent to Heinrich Welge's Fassifern Hotel on the principal road from Ipswich to the Fassifern head station, the Wiss brothers erected a small store and adjacent dwelling. In August 1890, Ipswich architect Henry Edmund Wyman called tenders for a store and dwelling to be erected at Engelsburg, and by September 1890, a store for Lionel Wiss was being constructed there.

Lionel married Danish immigrant Maria Elise Wiuff at Ipswich in late 1890, and in the same year joined Campbell in partnership as Wiss Bros, storekeepers, at Engelsburg.

Wiss Bros was one of the earliest businesses in the town, which was emerging as a district centre following the closer settlement of the Fassifern Scrub for dairying and agriculture. Campbell Wiss had left the partnership by c.1904, but the name Wiss Bros was retained.

In 1903, their premises consisted of the small store and a separate dwelling fronting George Street, and bulk store and large stables at the rear. Lionel Wiss's property had been extended with the acquisition of an adjacent acre to the south in 1898, and a further adjoining 2 roods in 1901. When the new store was erected in 1909, the original store was moved a little to the north in George Street, and operated for many years as Surawski's Fassifern Cafe. In the 1980s this building was shifted to the Cunningham Highway.

The firm prospered and the new 1909 store (the present Wiss Emporium) quickly saw Wiss Bros became one of the most important businesses in the district.

Lionel ('Daddy') Wiss was a highly respected local identity, who took a prominent role in the community and the local Methodist church. In 1910, he acquired 56 acres in the centre of Engelsburg. About half of this he subdivided in 1916 into residential allotments, thereby creating most of the western half of the town of Engelsburg (renamed Kalbar in 1916 when the railway reached the town).

Despite owning acreage on the western side of George Street, when selecting a site for a more substantial family residence, Lionel Wiss chose four allotments in Annie Krause's 1912 residential subdivision of the eastern half of Engelsburg. The site at the corner of Ann and William Streets, on the small rise overlooking the township centre, was a prime location, and the house was amongst the first erected on the hill. This grand house, known as Wiss House is important in exhibiting a range of aesthetic characteristics valued by the local community, including the building's siting and its contribution through scale, form and materials, to the townscape of Kalbar and its rural setting, the quality of the building's timber work and pressed metal details and the quality of the building's interior layout and detailing, including the relationship of the principal room to the view of the town centre and beyond, and unpainted pine walls and cedar joinery.

Wiss House was previously owned by the present owner of the Wiss Emporium and Cottage complex and she was personally responsible for its extensive restoration to its former glory. Consequently it was also placed on the National Trust Register. Photo at left shows Kristine Markwell (Wiss Emporium) with award and flanked by Wiss family descendants at front left and front right.

Lionel Wiss died in 1932. His wife, Maria Elise, resided in the Ann Street house until her death in 1957, and his daughters Adeline and Phyllis remained there until the mid-1970s, when the property was sold.

Adeline ran Wiss Bros Emporium until the business was sold in 1947.

Artisans

stephen/kristine — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:38:14 GMT

Bella Monde Fashion

Bella Monde Fashion is a specialist fashion house with its flagship boutique previously located at Main Beach on Queensland's Gold Coast. Style and beauty are two words that gel with the carefully selected designer labels sourced by boutique owner, Vicki Chapman.

Complemented by funky and innovative fashion jewellery and accessories, Vicki's gallery range of fine and exquisite fashions are much sought after by all in the region.

One fabulous label is where all the garments are completed full circle by a talented textile designer named Katherine Ackland.

Miniature Horse-Drawn Vehicles

Bruce Rankin is a skilled hobbyist who delights in working with timber. Ably assisted by his wife Norma they create authentic horse-drawn vehicles in miniature.

These replica models reminiscent of "days gone by" are highly valued and sought for different reasons: G. E. George commissioned an original transport coach for their Brisbane offices and the Carmady Family recently commissioned a bullock team wagon to reconnect with their ancestry who were once owners of a fleet of bullock teams and wagons in the Taree area.

Gallery Engelsburg

Gallery Engelsburg is a dedicated space within the Wiss Emporium for the display and sale of fine arts.

Dirk Blokland is an artist born in Holland who immigrated to Australia aged 25. He has won several awards and has exhibited widely. Dirk specialises in capturing buildings and family homes, however his quality of detail and crispness of colour is reflected in his large portfolio on a wide range of subjects.

Dirk was commissioned to produce illustrations of historic buildings for a series of booklets for the Natonal Trust.

Annette Trout, a talented artist whose skill and control of various techniques is reflected throughout her wide range of beautiful paintings which are all highly desirabale and affordable pieces.

John Heseltine is a photographic artist. He migrated to Mackay, North Queensland in 1951 as a 13 year-old and did not start schooling in Australia very well.

Even in those early years he could be seen happy snapping with his trusty box brownie and the 127 small-format film that produced grainy black and white photographs.

John's interest in photography blossomed after getting married and from there it grew particularly when he got his first SLR camera in the 1980's.

He undertook to better his photography and did a certificate course which took him to developing his own photographs to a much better scale. From there on he could not be stopped and has of course settled on a variety of photographic adventures. Now days, John concentrates on landscapes, seascapes and nature in all its glory and has won numerous prizes and awards all at competition level.

Romy Andres, a fibre artist, has demonstrated, displayed and achieved remarkable talent with numerous mediums of art, but at present, she is most passionate and very enthusiastic about felt making. This is because of her delight in ability and peak at 25 years of now being able to transform wool straight from a sheep or alpaca into shape and form!

Romy first began spinning and weaving until she discovered a good teacher who taught her how to make her dreams come true ... she found her medium and passion for making caps, hats, shawls, scarves, bags, masks and much, much more!

Brett A Jones is a multi-award winning artist who has completed a series of limited-edition fine art prints. These completely freehand works in graphite individually take up to nine months to complete and have been described as visual books, with inspection through a magnifying glass revealing more levels of detail.

"Brett has mastered his subject and chosen medium, which is clealy evident in the finished result."

Les Donges, timber master-craftsman. Excellence in woodcraft is the mantra of Les Donges. For the past 19 years Les has made traditional heirloom quality furniture worthy of the label: Furniture of Distinction. Beautiful hand-carved fine works of wood-art made from any species of timber in the style and dimensions of your requirements.

Geoff Briggs, scrap-steel artist extraordinare! Geoff clearly demonstrates in the pictures below how one person's worthless junk can be recreated into functional and unique objects of desire ... a very creative person with a vision that is boundless!

Katrina Dobbs, pet portraiture. Katrina and her signature pouch, Molly, were snapped as artist-in-residence whilst participating in the Studios of the Scenic Rim.

Dick Vanderkolk is a multi-talented local artist.

Lisa Kirk, Artist. After Year 12 Northam High School graduation Lisa then spent a year in Pennsylvania, USA, on a Rotary Student Exchange scholarship. She returned to Australia to study for a further two and a half years at the Curtin University. A wonderful smattering of art education flavoured all those years: from a Fine Arts Minor, to six Dressmaking and Fashion Design Units at Midland TAFE and two Visual Arts Subjects at Bremer TAFE.

Lisa's work celebrates her inherited "given gifts", from the intricate designs found in nature to the raucous riot of colour in a sunset!

Made by Alisa, affordable designer jewellery with each piece being unique.

"Creating beautiful jewellery is therapeutic - not only for my hands but for my mind. There is nothing more mentally stimulating than to have a vision of a design and have the freedom to create it. But, even more rewarding, is to see a person feel enjoyment from wearing my designs, or giving them to someone as a special gift."

... Alisa Robinson, Made by Alisa Jewellery.

Margaret Mauchlan is a fibre artisan living locally.

Margaret's passion for the past 22 years has been patchwork quilting.

She was a seamstress who learned the art-craft of patchwork from a teacher in Wynnum (Brisbane).

One could say Margaret is an emerging artist not restrained by formalities, a textile artisan who has been largely self-taught ... who still delights in her creations as does all who view them.

Old World Charm

Decorator items that ooze old-world charm to enhance your home or garden. Wrought iron and cast iron arches, benches, cherubs, plinths, statues, gargoyles and urns feature in a constantly changing collection of the unusual and the eclectic.

Tea House & Cottage

stephen/kristine — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:36:22 GMT

Our future plans include a teahouse as part of the Wiss Cottage.

WATCH THIS SPACE!