Panorama of the Herbig family tree in Springton, Adelaide Hills, South Australia.
Johann Friedrich Herbig arrived in South Australia from Bremen, Germany, in 1855. Herbig, the first German to settle here, made is home in this old hollow red gum tree at Black Springs as this area was then known. The tree, over 6 metres wide at its base and over 23 metres high, became his dwelling for 5 years. In 1858 Herbig married 18 year old Anna Caroline Rattey, also a Lutheran refugee from Germany, and both continued to live in the tree until a pine and pug dwelling was constructed after the birth of their second son.
Herbig arrived almost penniless in South Australia but by his death the family assets had grown to nearly 1,000 acres of land. Herbig and his wife had 9 boys and 7 girls. Herbig died at the age of 58 from brain damage after falling from a load of chaff.