Harvey Internment Camp Memorial Shrine

The Harvey Internment Camp Memorial Shrine has been a place of worship, remembrance and education for more than 80 years and is believed to be Australia’s only roadside shrine.

This State Heritage Listed site is a memorial to the Italians who were interned in Harvey during WWI. It also provides information on the German prisoners who spent time in Camp No. 11 Harvey.

Sit in remembrance and contemplation, or discover exhibits that tell the Internment Camp and Shrine’s story.

Also on the grounds is a fountain, “Fontana 2000”, which has been constructed in the same manner as the shrine.

ACCESS

The Shrine is open to visitors daily from 9am to 5pm. Access to the Shrine is available via a QR Code system.

Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

Afterwards, take the short Shrine Walk to visit:

• Harvey North Irrigation Channel and Garry’s Crossing
• Internment Camp Ablution Block Foundations
• Internment Camp Detention Cells
• Stirling Cottage Gardens Precinct and Stirling Cottage Kitchen
• Boola Biddi Dreaming Centre
• May Gibbs Trail.

HISTORY

The Harvey Internment Camp Memorial Shrine has a vast history based on WWII, when Mussolini and Hitler joined forces and declared war on Great Britain and France.

As a result, all German and Italian migrants living in the allied countries were categorised as enemy aliens and subsequently interned in camps.

One of these camps was situated in Harvey, Camp No. 11, with about 1000 internees.

One prisoner instigated the construction of a stone altar depicting the Catholic faith. The Shrine still stands today and was enclosed in a chapel in 1992.