Kalbar

Kalbar (formerly Engelsburg / Engelsberg) is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia.

Kalbar (formerly Engelsburg / Engelsberg) is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Kalbar had a population of 1,093 people.

In 1877, 17,700 acres (7,200 ha) were resumed from the Fassifern pastoral run and offered for selection on 19 April 1877. By 1890 a small town had developed. The town was once known as Fassifern Scrub and then Engelsburg after an early settler, storekeeper August Engels. The town has a very rich German history, having been established "almost exclusively" by German settlers, reflected today in the many Anglo-German road and street names as well as the many local German settler descendant surnames.Fassifern Scrub Privisional School opened on 3 February 1879. On 4 September 1879 it was renamed Engelsburg State School. Having previously operated in the Baptist Church, the school moved to Edward Street (now Engels Memorial Park) on 28 September 1885. On 24 January 1955, the school relocated to the Kalbar School of Arts while modern school buildings were being constructed in a new site on George Street. On 24 June 1955, the school moved into the new George Street buildings. On 19 April 1958 an official opening of new school site in George Street was held. On 27 August 1979 the school was renamed Kalbar State School (it had not been possible to rename the school during World War I because there was another Kalbar State School in South Kolan which operated until 1962). In 2007 some of the school buildings were invaded by a colony of microbats which lived in the walls and roofs and constituted a health hazard to staff and students as the bats can transmit Australian bat lyssavirus. The staff and students in the affected buildings were relocated into demountable buildings and the bat-infested buildings were demolished.A "bat haven" was established on the school grounds to provide an alternative home for the bat colony (being a protected species). New bat-proof buildings were opened in July 2010.Engelsburg Post Office opened on 7 July 1897 (a receiving office had been open from 1878. known as Engels for five years) and was renamed Kalbar in 1916.During the 1899 referendum to decide if Australia should become a federation, Kalbar registered the highest No vote of any town in Queensland.On Sunday 5 July 1908 the new Engelsburg Primitive Methodist Church was officially opened. It was the Primitive Methodist church building originally built at Dugandan in 1883 and subsequently relocated to Boonah to avoid flooding. Following the opening of a new Methodist Church in Boonah in 1907, the church building was relocated to Engelsburg where it was extensively renovated.The Mount Edwards railway line reached the town in 1916 with the town being served by the Kalbar railway station.The name changed to Kalbar because of anti-German sentiment in 1916 during World War I, initially it only applied to the railway station. The Engelsberg School of Arts did not change to the Kalbar School of Arts until July 1918.In 1920, the Kalbar School of Arts hall and half the businesses in town were destroyed by fire.From 1961 to 1990, Kalbar held a large annual celebration, the Fassifern Potato Festival. The event included a street parade with motorised floats culminating at the show grounds and continuation of festivities. Some artifacts from the festival can be found at the Templin Historical Museum. Harvest Festivals organised by the local Salvation Army church extended back to the 1920s.