Hahndorf is a small town in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia. Currently an important tourism spot, it has previously been a centre for farming and services.

Geography

It is accessible from

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, the South Australian capital, via the

South Eastern Freeway South Eastern Freeway is a freeway in South Australia (SA). It is a part of the National Highway network linking the state capital cities of Adelaide, SA, and Melbourne, Victoria, and signed as National Highway M1. It carries traffic over t ...

Climate

Hahndorf has a warm-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

abbreviated ''Csb'' on the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

scale.

History

The town was settled by

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

migrants largely from in and around a small village then named Kay in

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

and now known as Kije, Lubusz Voivodeship in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Many of the settlers arrived aboard the ''

Zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

'' on 28 December 1838. The town is named after

Dirk Meinerts Hahn Captain Dirk Meinerts Hahn, sometimes spelt Dirk Meinertz Hahn (born 1804 in Westerland, Sylt, died 1860) was the captain of the ship ''Zebra'' that he captained to South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in ...

, the Danish captain of the ''Zebra''. It is Australia's oldest surviving German settlement.

Early German settlers

During the

British colonisation of South Australia British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield ...

, the settlers were mostly British, but some German "Old Lutherans" also emigrated in the early years. The first large group of Germans arrived in 1838, with the financial assistance of the Emigration Fund. Most moved out of Adelaide and to the

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major wine-producing region and tourist destina ...

and settlements in the Hills such as Hahndorf, living in socially closed communities, by 1842, and did not participate in government until 15 years later.

German influence

German influence is apparent in Hahndorf and is seen in the traditional ''

fachwerk Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

'' architecture of the original surviving buildings. There are also many restaurants in the town serving German cuisine. Due to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in Europe, in 1917 the South Australian Government changed many German place names. The name Hahndorf was changed to ''Ambleside'' after the nearby

Ambleside railway station Ambleside railway station was located about 43.5 kilometres from Adelaide station, on the Adelaide-Wolseley line, in the Adelaide Hills suburb of Balhannah, at an elevation of 318 metres. History Ambleside was opened in November 1883, and ...

. Hahndorf was re-instated as the town's name with the enactment of the South Australia Nomenclature Act of 1935 on 12 December 1935. There are still references to the name ''Ambleside'' in and around the town today.

Demographics

At the census 2006 the population was 1,806. In 2016 the population was 2,670.

Government

Located in the federal

division of Mayo The Division of Mayo is an Australian electoral division located to the east and south of Adelaide, South Australia. Created in the state redistribution of 3 September 1984, the division is named after Helen Mayo, a social activist and the fir ...

, the state

electoral district of Heysen Heysen is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It is named after Sir Hans Heysen, a prominent South Australian landscape artist. It is a 1,074 km² electoral district that takes in some of the out ...

, and the local government areas of the

District Council of Mount Barker The Mount Barker District Council is a local government area centred on the town of Mount Barker just outside the Adelaide metropolitan area in South Australia. The council was first established in October 1853. It expanded to four times its o ...

and the

Adelaide Hills Council Adelaide Hills Council is a local government area in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. It is in the hills east of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and extends from the South Para Reservoir in the north to the Mount Bold Reservoir ...

Churches

There are two prominent churches in Hahndorf. St Michael's is the oldest Lutheran church in Australia to still have a worshipping congregation on its original church site. It was founded in 1839. St Michael's is a member of the

Lutheran Church of Australia The Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) is the major Lutheran denomination in Australia and New Zealand. It counts 540 congregations and 30,026 members according to official statistics. It was created from a merger of the Evangelical Lutheran Chu ...

. St Paul's was founded in 1846, as a result of a schism between the Pastor Kavel, and Pastor Fritzsche. This schism is closely linked to the formation of two original Lutheran synods in Australia which coexisted until their merger in 1966.

C3 Adelaide Hills

C3 Adelaide Hills is a church part of the

C3 Church Global C3 Church Global, formerly known as Christian City Church International (C3i), is a charismatic movement founded by Phil Pringle and Christine Pringle. The first church was started in Dee Why on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia, and is ...

movement. Previously located in Nairne it moved to Hahndorf around 2007 .

Sports

Hahndorf's sporting clubs including basketball, bowls, netball, cricket, football (Australian rules and Association Football), tennis and softball. The football (both codes), netball and softball clubs are nicknamed The Magpies. The Hahndorf Bowling Club was established in 1976 and has a full size (nine rink) green, which is a woven carpet surface enabling all weather competition, and a large clubhouse. The (soccer) Football Club was formed in the early 1980s and plays home games at "Pine Avenue". The senior men compete in the

South Australian Amateur Soccer League The South Australian Amateur Soccer League (SAASL) run the largest association football competition in South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part ...

. They won the 1996 Newsfront Cup and the 2004 Amateur League Division Two title. However, a gradual decline in player numbers from 2013 have seen the side drop to one team, competing in Division Seven, by 2019.

Notable residents

*Watercolour artist Sir Hans Heysen established "The Cedars" close to the town in 1912. He lived and painted there until his death in 1968. "The Cedars" remains in his family, and is open for guided tours. * Matthew Jaensch was an AFL footballer who played for the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since ...

. He retired in 2016 after six years and 74 games with the Crows.

Gallery

File:150th anniversary.JPG, 150th anniversary memorial File:GERMAN ARMS HOTEL - HAHNDORF.jpg, German Arms Hotel File:HAHNDORF ACADEMY.jpg, Hahndorf Academy File:HAHNDORF INN.jpg, Hahndorf Inn File:ST. MICHAEL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH - HAHNDORF.jpg, St. Michael's Lutheran Church

References

External links

Tourist Information on Hahndorf

Adhills – Hahndorf, South Australia

SA Government State Heritage Areas

*

{{Authority control Towns in South Australia Hahndorf Populated places established in 1839 1839 establishments in Australia German-Australian culture