Ernest Eugene Kramer

Kramer building a shelter, likely alongside Arrernte Elder Micky Dow Dow. c. 1924

Ernest Eugene Kramer (10 May 1889 – 16 February 1958) was a non-denominational itinerant missionary who worked in Central Australia, mostly Alice Springs, from 1913 until 1934 who is known for his camel train caravan mission. Kramer was responsible for building the first church in Alice Springs, the Ebenezer Tabernacle (which was commonly known as Kramer's Church).

Early life

Kramer was born on 10 May 1889 in Basel, Switzerland and his German born storekeeper parents Karl Friedrich and Maria Elisabeth Kramer. He attended school locally and trained as a milling engineer. In 1909, after the stress of work caused a nervous breakdown, The growing family travelled in a covered wagon, pulled by donkeys, throughout very remote area and, as itinerant missionaries, had no regular income and were dependent on donations of food and money.

Life in the Northern Territory

Kramer, and his family, moved to Alice Springs in 1923. In 1925, he was appointed Missionary for Central Australia by the Aborigines' Friends' Association where he helped local Arrernte people living in the town while also making frequent 'bush trips' in the cooler months by camel-team and motor car; taking with him food and medicines. according to traditional law led Kramer to demand the prosecution of the killers for murder, leading to debate on the applicability of white law to traditional violence. The men were tried but acquitted by a Darwin jury.

In the early 1930s Kramer's relationship with the Aborigines' Friends' Association began to fracture and, with the increasing European population following the completion of the railway, forcing Aboriginal people out Alice Springs and attendance at the church went from 50 Aboriginal people to less than 10.

It was for these reasons, and his increasingly poor health, that in 1934 Kramer retired and he and Euphemia returned to Melbourne where both continued to campaign for Central Australian Aboriginal welfare.