Holbrook's German Roots

The town of Germanton was renamed Holbrook in 1915. More than 100 years later, a bridge constructed in Holbrook honours the town’s early German roots.

The Riverina town of Holbrook is one of over 90 Australian places to change its name during the First World War because of its German associations. Holbrook's previous name was Germanton. German settlers had arrived in the Riverina in the second half of the 19th century, and Germanton had gained its name because of the large number of German visitors to the home of German-born resident John Pabst.

During the First World War, many German-Australian communities found themselves the object of suspicion and animosity. This was the case for Germanton, despite the fact that four grandsons of John Pabst served with the Australian forces in the war, and other German-Australians from the area also fought and died.

The Germanton Shire Council considered a number of names in 1915 before it chose ‘Holbrook’ in honour of Lieutenant Norman Douglas Holbrook, who was the first submarine commander in the First World War to receive the Victoria Cross.

By the end of the war, authorities had closed many German shops; German food items were re-labelled; German music was banned; and German schools and churches were closed. All German associations had been erased from the Australian landscape.

Over the past 100 years, sentiment has altered. In 2017, the new bridge across Ten Mile Creek at Holbrook was named Germanton Bridge, once again connecting Holbrook to its early German roots and recognising the German ancestry of many in the area.