Lobethal is a town in the
Adelaide Hills area of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. It is located in 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 ...
local government area, and is nestled on the banks of a creek between the hills and up the sides of the valley. It was once the centre of the Adelaide Hills wool processing industry, which continued until around 1950. The mill buildings are now used by a number of cottage industry and handcraft businesses. At the
2016 census, Lobethal had a population of 2,135.
The town is famed during the
Christmas season
The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late Novembe ...
for its display of Christmas lights and decorations, which have attracted visitors from around the state since the 1950s.
History
Lobethal was settled in 1842 by
Prussian
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 e ...
immigrants, who migrated to South Australia with Pastor
Gotthard Fritzsche
Gotthard Daniel Fritzsche (20 July 1797 – 26 October 1863)The gravestone has birthdate as 20 June 1797, not July ("''Geboren'' 20. Juni 1797"). was a Prussian-Australian pastor who became instrumental in furthering that religion in South Aust ...
aboard the sailing vessel
Skjold, who initially went to
Hahndorf
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, the South Australian capital, ...
but were alerted to good land in the upper
Onkaparinga. German
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
settlers provided compatriot,
Johann Friedrich Krummnow
Johann Friedrich Krummnow (or Krumnow) (1811 – 3 October 1880) was a German-born settler in Australia. He arrived in South Australia in 1839 and in 1852 he founded a community named Herrnhut located near Penshurst in western Victoria. Thi ...
, who had arrived in South Australia three years earlier and was a naturalised English citizen, with funds for land purchases to establish the community.
Krummnow wanted it based on his own principles of shared property and fervent prayer.
The Lobethal settlers rejected Krummnow's vision and legally disputed his right to the land titles.
"Lobethal" is German for "valley of praise". On the day of the division of the land, according to Reverend I. Ey's account, 'it received the name Lobethal, taken from the II
Book of Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sec ...
, chapter 20, verse 26
(EN)br>
(DE) which, according to
Luther
Luther may refer to:
People
* Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation
* Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement
* Luther (give ...
's
translation
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
, means Lobethal or 'Valley of praise'.
The town, as with many German towns in South Australia, was built in typical
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
n Hufendorf style, with the cottages arranged in a line along the main street, and each family having a long, narrow strip of land (used for growing crops) stretching from the main street back to the village common, where all families could allow their animals to graze. The advantages of this layout were that everyone had access to both fresh water and the main road, and a relatively even distribution of fertile and infertile land. While the town has developed out of recognition (the main street was Mill Road, now the western boundary of the town), elements of the hufendorf layout remain.
In 1845, St John's Lutheran Church was built; it is now the oldest
Lutheran church
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
building in Australia. A new church has been built alongside. Many of the settlers' traditions remain to this day, although the town is not as overtly Germanic as Hahndorf or
Tanunda.
In 1850, F.W. Kleinschmidt set up a brewery. It closed after about two decades when Kleinschmidt turned his attention to hop-growing – which subsequently became a focus for Lobethal's agriculture. The brewery itself was turned into the Lobethal Tweed Factory, which became the Onkaparinga Woollen Company and operated until 1992. A
cricket bat
A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batters in the sport of cricket to hit the ball, typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. It may also be used by a batter who is making ground ...
factory utilising locally grown willow also operated from 1894 until 1950.
Due to the
Great 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 state government
changed many German place names. The name Lobethal was changed to ''Tweedvale'' (honouring the town's major industry). Lobethal was re-instated as the town's name with the enactment of the
South Australia Nomenclature Act of 1935 on 12 December 1935.
Geography
Lobethal is located between
Gumeracha
Gumeracha ( ) is a town in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, located on the Adelaide-Mannum Road. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council local government area on the south bank of the upper River Torrens. At the 2006 census, Gumeracha ...
and
Woodside along the north–south road, and east of Adelaide via
Magill
''Magill'' was an Irish politics and current affairs magazine founded by Vincent Browne and others in 1977. ''Magill'' specialised in investigative articles and colourful reportage by journalists such as Eamonn McCann (who wrote its anonymous ' ...
and
Norton Summit.
Climate
Lobethal 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-Scale.
Facilities
Lobethal contains two hotels, two primary schools and a
Country Fire Service
The South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS, commonly abbreviated as CFS) is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting and Hazardous Waste ...
station.
The Lutheran Church complex, and the
Archives and Historical Museum, contain information about the lives of the towns German settlers, and are open to the public year-round.
Lobethal Bierhaus is a brewery located on the Main Street of the town. It makes both English and German style beers.
The Lobethal Bakery provides a selection of German style breads and cakes.
There are many artisan producers based in the old woollen mill facility.
Lobethal, and the surrounding area, contains many Wineries and a growing number of cellar doors.
Culture
The town is famous around
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 ...
for its display of
Christmas lights
Christmas lights (also known as fairy lights, festive lights or string lights) are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom goe ...
along its main streets in December each year; many residents also adorn their front gardens and
verandah
A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure.
Although the form ''veran ...
s with elaborate displays. The tradition began in the 1950s and is the largest Christmas display in South Australia. In 2019, however, the events were cancelled after a big bush fires caused a lot of damage.
The area is fast becoming known for its many producers of food and beverages.
Transport
The area is serviced by
Adelaide Metro
Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal system offering an integrated network of bus, tram, and train service throughout the metropolitan area. The network has an ann ...
. Buses run from Lobethal to the
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 ...
CBD via the South Eastern Freeway and Onkaparinga Valley Road. There are also buses from Lobethal to Verdun Junction and
Mount Barker.
Motorsport
![MG TA of Allan Tomlinson](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/MG_TA_of_Allan_Tomlinson.jpg)
Lobethal was the host town for the
1939 Australian Grand Prix, Australia's premier motor race of that year. The race, which was won by Alan Tomlinson driving an
MG TA, was staged on the
Lobethal Circuit
The Lobethal Circuit was a motor racing course centred on the South Australian town of Lobethal in the Mount Lofty Ranges, 22 miles from the state capital, Adelaide.John B Blanden, A History of the Australian Grand Prix 1928-1939, page 171 It wa ...
which comprised public roads in and around the town. The circuit was used for four race meetings from 1937 through to 1948.
References
External links
The Lights of Lobethal– Web site of the (Christmas) Lights of Lobethal Committee
Tourist Information on Lobethal
{{authority control
Towns in South Australia