Arno’s Wall

Arno's Wall

A modern wonder of art and architecture, Arno Grotjahn's wall contains almost every household item you can imagine and more.

The walls reach two metres high and extend for at least 70 metres. They are constructed of concrete and rock brought from Arno's opal mine at Opalton and studded with rusted lawnmower parts, boat propellers, vintage typewriters and sewing machines and even a couple of complete motorbikes.

Every part of the Wall has a story, and if you are lucky, you may run into one of the locals happy to share them.

A bit about the Architect
Arno was born in 1930 and spent his youth as a merchant seaman travelling the world. He immigrated to Australia from Germany some 30 years ago and spends his time in and around Winton opal mining.

Winton Snippets
Palaeontology

Winton, part of Queensland's Dinosaur Country, is a rich collecting area for palaeontologists. During the 1970s, a small number of sauropod dinosaurs were collected north-west and south-west of town and in the 1980s more dinosaur bones were found in Bladensburg National Park. Specimens of sharks, lungfish and dinosaurs have also come to light. Several localities in the Winton region contain well-preserved fossil plants, which have provided information about vegetation during the time of the dinosaurs. Younger fossils, the remains of fresh water crocodiles and giant marsupials less than a million years old, have been found in some dam excavations.
- Dr Alex Cook, Queensland Museum