Hermann Rieck
[2] He was a non-commissioned officer in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, being involved in the German invasion of France, including the sieges of Metz and Paris.[5] He also took on various minor occupations to gain experience in the colonies, including book peddler, builder’s labourer and stock and station roustabout.[5] At the time that Rieck settled in Korora, Aboriginal people and timber getters lived in the area, but there was no farming.[7] He established a farm where he experimented with a variety of crops, including sugar cane, maize, fruit, tobacco and pumpkins, as well as running livestock.[11] Fanny Cox, who had worked as a teacher in South Australia,[12] answered his advertisement and travelled to the area by ship.[11] In 1899, the Riecks travelled to Europe and stayed 9 years, touring on bicycles through England, France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.[2] While on their bicycle tours in Europe, Hermann and Fanny Rieck wrote a series of jointly authored articles about their travels, which were published in several Australian newspapers.Fanny Rieck was able to raise sufficient funds from sale of their cottage to return Coffs Harbour in 1922,[19] where she lived in difficult financial circumstances.