Haussmann, a former butcher, was one of the first disciples of Johannes Gossner, who converted to Lutheranism in 1826. Gossner trained the six missionaries who arrived at Moreton Bay in 1838: Haussmann, Friedrich Franz, August Olbrecht, Johann Wagner, Johann Holzhausen and Karl Zabel.

Zion Hill was the first mission in what later became Queensland. Its missionaries are remembered as the first free settlers of Queensland, who had the first free-born settler children in Queensland. Haussmann’s wife, Wilhelmina Lehman (1810-1889), was a seamstress from Marburg, Germany. They were married in Germany prior to departing for Australia. Haussmann children born at Zion Hill included Johanna Maria (b. 12 Jan 1839), John Godfrey (b. 8 Dec 1840), Anne Wilhelmina (b. 20 Oct 1842), and John Edward (b. 1 Aug 1854).

From 1851 to 1852, Haussmann attended John Dunmore Lang’s ‘Australian College’ in Sydney and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1853. He then worked as a chaplain to German and English settlers in Maryborough and surrounding districts before moving to Victoria. After his return to Queensland, Haussmann was instrumental in settling a new wave of German immigrants in the Beenleigh and Logan areas in the 1860s, becoming the patriarch of the German settlers in southern Queensland.

Johann Haussmann’s 90th birthday was celebrated at Beenleigh on 27 October 1901. He received congratulations from the acting Queensland premier, Sir Samuel Griffith, and was awarded the Red Eagle by the German Kaiser. Two months later, on 31 December 1901, Haussmann passed away and was buried at the Beenleigh Cemetery.

Citation

Lee Butterworth and Jan Richardson, ‘Johann Haussmann (1811-1901)’, Harry Gentle Resource Centre, Griffith University, 2017 (updated 2023), https://harrygentle.griffith.edu.au/life-stories/pastor-johann-hausmann/