Hahndorf

Hahndorf German Village

50 Main St, Hahndorf SA 5245, Australia +61 8 8388 7324 Website 9:30am – 5pm Adelaide Campervan Hire

Well everyone else seemed to know about the German village of Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills except yours truely. We went with a tour group but I am told you can easily go by the local bus.

Hahndorf is the oldest German settlement in Australia and very nice it is too. We strolled along the
main street…passed by the home made icecream and headed for the beer tasting at the local pub. I tried three different varieties of German beer and all were pretty good.

Quite a few little shops tempted me to take home some souvenirs.

An aside…I have just learnt ‘Hahndorf’ means ‘Rooster’ so I wonder why the name was chosen…

Well thanks to mindcrime who read my review I know now that what the tour guide told me was incorrect….not for the first time has that happened but I am not an avid researcher
So courtesy of mindcrime
“according to wiki the town was settled by Lutheran migrants largely from in and around a small village then named Kay in Prussia, many of whom were aboard the Zebra arriving on 28 December 1838. The town is named after the Danish Dirk Meinhertz Hahn, captain of the Zebra.”

gristfog (contributor)

HAHNDORF
Visiting Adelaide!!!. What a great Aussie city this is.. There are many things to see and do when in Adelaide and if you have some spare time a great thing to do is visit Hahndorf.
Located not far from Adelaide and a pleasant busride this is really a nice way to spend the day. Hahndorf is a Town of German origins (est.1839)and settled very early in Adelaides History by Lutheran Germans avoiding persecution in their homeland.
The town is quiet, pleasant to explore and squeaky clean . There are many fine german buisinesses especially the restaurants that provide Germanic Faire and nothing has been lost in clinging to their German origins while being great Aussies. The food I found to be excellent along with the german beer .
I came up to Hahndorf to especially get some “Bratwurst mit Kartoffel Salat”.. (Bratwurst sausage with potatoe salad) and a few german beers. Try some sorbet Ice cream at the OLde Ice Cream shoppe..or a “bum burner” sausage Hot dog… I wasn’t dissapointed.
Hahndorf is the oldest permanent German settlement in Australia.

bowenslanging (contributor)

This was a plus for the trip – we got to pick our very own strawberries while me & my gang were in Hanhdorf.

The farm dates back to the 1830s when the Paech family settled down in Hanhdorf. It is still owned by the Paech family. The farm grows strawberries, sweetcorn and mixed vegetables but had since expanded to include sale of home made style jams, pickles, chutneys and sauces.

Strawberry season is between October-May so by the time we arrived in April, the best batches were already gone….but even that, did not dampen our spirits as 4 grown-ups were springing among strawberry beds eager to pick out the juicest of them all. The strawberries were fresh, sweet, juicy and succulent as we managed to find some over-ripe ones, not that we mind at all. Several we just popped straight into our mouths as the farm had assured us that they do not use any chemicals on their plants. We just don’t get to eat FRESH strawberries like this back home! We managed to cart 2 large containers of strawberries, provided by the farm for free, back to our apartments, which we would wolved down with plenty of ice-cream! I remembered that we paid about A$2 each for about 1kg worth of strawberries, which was DIRT-cheap when compared to the stuff we had to pay for air-flown in from other countries.

Entry to the strawberry patches requires A$2 per pax.

The farm also has beautiful rose covered walkways. The perfume of red roses was just intoxicating.

Don’t miss out on the strawberry jams (but what else) and the rose petal jams as well!

uranusglabella (contributor)

What can I say about this historic German town in the Adelaide Hills? Charming, lovely, seductive – made for a great day out of Adelaide – especially on the weekdays when you need not contend with the weekend crowd!

Many of Hanhdorf’s inhabitants were descendants of Lutherans from Prussia (now Germany), escaping religious prosecution in the 1800s. In 1838, they reached Port Adelaide, and the kind hearted Captain of their ship was so concerned for their livelihood, he sought out this piece of land for their settlement. In gratitude, they name the township Hanhdorf, in honour of the kind Captain.

There are many old buildings lining the streets, stately old homes, charming cottages and ethnic restaurants, all exuding a different kind of European charm, one that is rich in Bavarian heritage. Come here for German food (like sausages and sauerkraut) and beer, but of course. Don’t get me wrong, it is quite a touristy place, but one that had not overdone it in zest. Plenty of art and craft galleries, wineries and ethnic grocery shops exist peacefully, all while trying their best to charm you into parting your money from your wallet/purse!

Think I took Metro Bus service 840 from the city (via day-trip ticket) and the journey lasted about 40 minutes.

starcaramel (contributor)

This is a photo taken at the quaint little German/Australian tourist town of Hahndorf, in the Adelaide Hills.

There’s not quite as much German charm in the town as there used to be in years gone by, but it is still nice, and there are many quality Australian shops as well.
There’s a lot of history here too, in the old German buildings. I especially recommend the museum.

I really enjoy the bakery, especially the German one, the handmade boiled sweets shop, ice cream parlour, the leathercrafts shop, souvenir shops – truly we spent a
whole day just exploring one side of the street!

(My brochure says there are more than 100 venues in town to browse, and I can well believe it…it’s a very long street and packed with shops to browse or buy in)

The German people who immigrated here to the Adelaide Hills and the Barossa Valley in the 1830’s played a very important role in the development of the area (which if you’re interested to learn further details of, you can read more in the Travelogue at the bottom of my Adelaide pages)

arenasneer (contributor)

This is the largest regional Art Gallery in South Australia. It has a gift shop, artists in residence, and works on display by the famous German immigrant artist Hans Heysen (he became one of Australia’s most famous artists)

It is also home to the German Migration Museum, which I really enjoyed.
You can see many writings, books and relics from the German’s early days of settlement history in the region.

Latest Images of Hahndorf, Adelaide

Hahndorf, Adelaide
Hahndorf is a small German town, 30 minutes away busing from Adelaide. This place is so classic German, weather is great pure and peaceful.

Hahndorf, Adelaide
Red leaves in Hahndorf. Early winter here have three main color: Green, yellow and red.

Hahndorf, Adelaide
Hahndorf is a small German town, 30 minutes away busing from Adelaide. This place is so classic German, weather is great pure and peaceful.

Hahndorf, Adelaide
Just a little traffic in Hahndorf.

Hahndorf, Adelaide
Pure-water bottle is also special German. Even a dustbin here have the text Hahndorf.

Hahndorf, Adelaide
This remind me something, a picture, and my favor old poem: "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; ... I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. " The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost)

Bulb
33815342056_8282d19da2_k

Hahndorf Flags
33726961931_805df65c95_k

Beerenberg strawberry farm - Hahndorf, Adelaide
Beerenberg is a very famous strawberry farm in Adelaide, you can pick strawberry for yourselves in session of Nov-May (warmer months in Australia)

House of Hans Heysen, Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills, photographed by R. Donaldson
House of Hans Heysen, Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills, January 1950, photographer R. Donaldson, PIX Magazine, State Library of New South Wales, ON 388/Box 004/Item 006, archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110585544

Hans Heysen painting, Hahndorf, photographed by R. Donaldson
Hans Heysen painting, Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills, January 1950, photographer R. Donaldson, PIX Magazine, State Library of New South Wales, ON 388/Box 004/Item 006, archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110585544

Studio of Hans Heysen, Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills, photographed by R. Donaldson
Studio of Hans Heysen, Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills, January 1950, photographer R. Donaldson, PIX Magazine, State Library of New South Wales, ON 388/Box 004/Item 006, archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110585544

Hans Heysen painting, Hahndorf, photographed by R. Donaldson
Adelaide Hills, January 1950, photographer R. Donaldson, PIX Magazine, State Library of New South Wales, ON 388/Box 004/Item 006, archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110585544

Hans Heysen painting, photographed by R. Donaldson
Hans Heysen painting, Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills, January 1950, photographer R. Donaldson, PIX Magazine, State Library of New South Wales, ON 388/Box 004/Item 006, archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110585544

Hahndorf. Adelaide Hills. The first German Lutheran School in South Australia. Opened in 1842 and used until 1917. Sandstone with stucco on the street frontage. Now a shop. .
Hahndorf. The origins of Hahndorf can be indirectly traced back to George Fife Angas, one of the financiers of SA and the SA Company. Through his SA agent Mr Flaxman, Angas purchased seven Special Surveys totalling 28,000 acres in the Barossa Valley in 1839. But whilst still in England in 1838 George Fife Angas met Lutheran Pastor Kavel and then soon after he financed Pastor Kavel’s passage to SA along with and 250 German Lutherans immigrants. Angas wanted to have a supply of potential labourers and possible tenants for his land purchases in the SA colony. His actions encouraged other German Lutherans to migrate to SA. Another group of German Lutherans arrived in SA in 1838 aboard the ship the Zebra under the command of Captain Hahn. Captain Hahn searched for suitable land for the 200 or so people from the Zebra so that they could settle together as a religious community. He accidentally met William Dutton who had just paid for the Mt Barker Special Survey of 1839. Hahn asked for 100 acres, to be rent free in the first year, to help the Lutherans become established near Mt Barker. Around 150 acres were allotted to the Germans by Dutton, Finniss and MacFarlane from the Mt Barker Special Survey and 240 acres were purchased from the government. Soon more German Lutherans, including some from Klemzig and Pastor Kavel’s group joined the original group led by Captain Hahn. They formed a village in early 1839 along traditional German lines and called it Hahndorf after the Captain that had been so helpful to them. The story of Hahndorf had begun. The land was divided between the 54 founding Lutheran families and Hahndorf thus became the second (after Klemzig) and eventually oldest surviving German settlement in Australia. But it did not remain that way for long. In the 1840s some families moved away to other areas of German settlement, partly because of religious splits between Pastor Kavel and Pastor Fritzsche and by the 1850s English background families started moving into the village of Hahndorf as well. As most families had a frontage to the main street many of the original buildings from the 1840s and early 1850s remain today with their typical German architectural style. They include houses, the old mill (the first settlers grew wheat for the Adelaide market), two Lutheran churches, St. Pauls (1890) and St. Michaels (1858, the second church on the site - the first one opened in 1840), two of the early hotels, several early stores and the Hahndorf Academy. The Hahndorf Academy opened in 1857 as a school for the Lutherans where they were taught in German but learned English as well. The current large Academy building was built with its two storeys in 1871. In 1876 it also became a Lutheran seminary for a short time before reverting to a secular Academy which finally closed in 1912.

White Caravan
Taken in the picnic outdoor area of The White House, Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills www.thewhitehouseadelaidehills.com.au/

Hans Heysen, Hahndorf, photographed by R. Donaldson
Hans Heysen, Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills, January 1950, photographer R. Donaldson, PIX Magazine, State Library of New South Wales, ON 388/Box 004/Item 006, archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110585544

Hahndorf Adelaide Hills. Hahndorf Academy. Opened 1857. Upper floor added 1871 and tower 1872. Sold to Lutheran Church in 1877. Closed as college 1912 and became a hospital. Now a museum and art gallery. .
Hahndorf. The origins of Hahndorf can be indirectly traced back to George Fife Angas, one of the financiers of SA and the SA Company. Through his SA agent Mr Flaxman, Angas purchased seven Special Surveys totalling 28,000 acres in the Barossa Valley in 1839. But whilst still in England in 1838 George Fife Angas met Lutheran Pastor Kavel and then soon after he financed Pastor Kavel’s passage to SA along with and 250 German Lutherans immigrants. Angas wanted to have a supply of potential labourers and possible tenants for his land purchases in the SA colony. His actions encouraged other German Lutherans to migrate to SA. Another group of German Lutherans arrived in SA in 1838 aboard the ship the Zebra under the command of Captain Hahn. Captain Hahn searched for suitable land for the 200 or so people from the Zebra so that they could settle together as a religious community. He accidentally met William Dutton who had just paid for the Mt Barker Special Survey of 1839. Hahn asked for 100 acres, to be rent free in the first year, to help the Lutherans become established near Mt Barker. Around 150 acres were allotted to the Germans by Dutton, Finniss and MacFarlane from the Mt Barker Special Survey and 240 acres were purchased from the government. Soon more German Lutherans, including some from Klemzig and Pastor Kavel’s group joined the original group led by Captain Hahn. They formed a village in early 1839 along traditional German lines and called it Hahndorf after the Captain that had been so helpful to them. The story of Hahndorf had begun. The land was divided between the 54 founding Lutheran families and Hahndorf thus became the second (after Klemzig) and eventually oldest surviving German settlement in Australia. But it did not remain that way for long. In the 1840s some families moved away to other areas of German settlement, partly because of religious splits between Pastor Kavel and Pastor Fritzsche and by the 1850s English background families started moving into the village of Hahndorf as well. As most families had a frontage to the main street many of the original buildings from the 1840s and early 1850s remain today with their typical German architectural style. They include houses, the old mill (the first settlers grew wheat for the Adelaide market), two Lutheran churches, St. Pauls (1890) and St. Michaels (1858, the second church on the site - the first one opened in 1840), two of the early hotels, several early stores and the Hahndorf Academy. The Hahndorf Academy opened in 1857 as a school for the Lutherans where they were taught in German but learned English as well. The current large Academy building was built with its two storeys in 1871. In 1876 it also became a Lutheran seminary for a short time before reverting to a secular Academy which finally closed in 1912.

Hahndorf. Adelaide Hills. Cafe 1839 closed during coronavirus. Built in German style with half hipped roof line. Not built in 1839 but the town was established then.
Hahndorf. The origins of Hahndorf can be indirectly traced back to George Fife Angas, one of the financiers of SA and the SA Company. Through his SA agent Mr Flaxman, Angas purchased seven Special Surveys totalling 28,000 acres in the Barossa Valley in 1839. But whilst still in England in 1838 George Fife Angas met Lutheran Pastor Kavel and then soon after he financed Pastor Kavel’s passage to SA along with and 250 German Lutherans immigrants. Angas wanted to have a supply of potential labourers and possible tenants for his land purchases in the SA colony. His actions encouraged other German Lutherans to migrate to SA. Another group of German Lutherans arrived in SA in 1838 aboard the ship the Zebra under the command of Captain Hahn. Captain Hahn searched for suitable land for the 200 or so people from the Zebra so that they could settle together as a religious community. He accidentally met William Dutton who had just paid for the Mt Barker Special Survey of 1839. Hahn asked for 100 acres, to be rent free in the first year, to help the Lutherans become established near Mt Barker. Around 150 acres were allotted to the Germans by Dutton, Finniss and MacFarlane from the Mt Barker Special Survey and 240 acres were purchased from the government. Soon more German Lutherans, including some from Klemzig and Pastor Kavel’s group joined the original group led by Captain Hahn. They formed a village in early 1839 along traditional German lines and called it Hahndorf after the Captain that had been so helpful to them. The story of Hahndorf had begun. The land was divided between the 54 founding Lutheran families and Hahndorf thus became the second (after Klemzig) and eventually oldest surviving German settlement in Australia. But it did not remain that way for long. In the 1840s some families moved away to other areas of German settlement, partly because of religious splits between Pastor Kavel and Pastor Fritzsche and by the 1850s English background families started moving into the village of Hahndorf as well. As most families had a frontage to the main street many of the original buildings from the 1840s and early 1850s remain today with their typical German architectural style. They include houses, the old mill (the first settlers grew wheat for the Adelaide market), two Lutheran churches, St. Pauls (1890) and St. Michaels (1858, the second church on the site - the first one opened in 1840), two of the early hotels, several early stores and the Hahndorf Academy. The Hahndorf Academy opened in 1857 as a school for the Lutherans where they were taught in German but learned English as well. The current large Academy building was built with its two storeys in 1871. In 1876 it also became a Lutheran seminary for a short time before reverting to a secular Academy which finally closed in 1912.

Hahndorf. Adelaide Hills. This single storey section of Hahndorf Academy was built in 1857. Hahndorf settled by Lutheran Germans 1839.
Hahndorf. The purple pink Mount Lofty sandstone was only used in the 1850s. St Michaels Lutheran School began in 1839 in the town and is still in operation but it was soon followed by the establishment of the Hahndorf Academy which opened in 1857 as a school for the Lutherans where they were taught in German but learned English as well. The current large Academy building was built with its two storeys in 1871. In 1876 it also became a Lutheran seminary for a short time before reverting to a secular Academy and school which finally closed in 1912. The government school did not open in Hahndorf until 1879 after the passing of the Free, Compulsory and Secular Education Act of 1875. Hahndorf got a fine two storey stone school which still exists as the main buildings of the school. Its name was changed during World War One to Ambleside School but it reverted to Hahndorf School in 1936 when South Australia celebrated its centenary. The origins of Hahndorf can be indirectly traced back to George Fife Angas, one of the financiers of SA and the SA Company. Through his SA agent Mr Flaxman, Angas purchased seven Special Surveys totalling 28,000 acres in the Barossa Valley in 1839. But whilst still in England in 1838 George Fife Angas met Lutheran Pastor Kavel and then soon after he financed Pastor Kavel’s passage to SA along with and 250 German Lutherans immigrants. Angas wanted to have a supply of potential labourers and possible tenants for his land purchases in the SA colony. His actions encouraged other German Lutherans to migrate to SA. Another group of German Lutherans arrived in SA in 1838 aboard the ship the Zebra under the command of Captain Hahn. Captain Hahn searched for suitable land for the 200 or so people from the Zebra so that they could settle together as a religious community. He accidentally met William Dutton who had just paid for the Mt Barker Special Survey of 1839. Hahn asked for 100 acres, to be rent free in the first year, to help the Lutherans become established near Mt Barker. Around 150 acres were allotted to the Germans by Dutton, Finniss and MacFarlane from the Mt Barker Special Survey and 240 acres were purchased from the government. Soon more German Lutherans, including some from Klemzig and Pastor Kavel’s group joined the original group led by Captain Hahn. They formed a village in early 1839 along traditional German lines and called it Hahndorf after the Captain that had been so helpful to them. The story of Hahndorf had begun. The land was divided between the 54 founding Lutheran families and Hahndorf thus became the second (after Klemzig) and eventually oldest surviving German settlement in Australia. But it did not remain that way for long. In the 1840s some families moved away to other areas of German settlement, partly because of religious splits between Pastor Kavel and Pastor Fritzsche and by the 1850s English background families started moving into the village of Hahndorf as well. As most families had a frontage to the main street many of the original buildings from the 1840s and early 1850s remain today with their typical German architectural style. They include houses, the old mill (the first settlers grew wheat for the Adelaide market), two Lutheran churches, St. Pauls (1890) and St. Michaels (1858, the second church on the site as the first Lutheran church was opened in 1840), two of the early hotels including the German Arms Hotel of 1839, several early stores and the Hahndorf Academy.

Hans Heysen sketching, Adelaide Hills, photographed by R. Donaldson
Hans Heysen sketching, Adelaide Hills, January 1950, photographer R. Donaldson, PIX Magazine, State Library of New South Wales, ON 388/Box 004/Item 006, archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110585544

Christmas evening in Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills.
9701508864_43dc86ec9f_b

Hahndorf Adelaide Hills in autumn. Hahndorf Academy. Opened 1857. Upper floor added 1871 and tower 1872. Sold to Lutheran Church in 1877. Closed as college 1912 and became a hospital. Now a museum and art gallery. .
Hahndorf. The origins of Hahndorf can be indirectly traced back to George Fife Angas, one of the financiers of SA and the SA Company. Through his SA agent Mr Flaxman, Angas purchased seven Special Surveys totalling 28,000 acres in the Barossa Valley in 1839. But whilst still in England in 1838 George Fife Angas met Lutheran Pastor Kavel and then soon after he financed Pastor Kavel’s passage to SA along with and 250 German Lutherans immigrants. Angas wanted to have a supply of potential labourers and possible tenants for his land purchases in the SA colony. His actions encouraged other German Lutherans to migrate to SA. Another group of German Lutherans arrived in SA in 1838 aboard the ship the Zebra under the command of Captain Hahn. Captain Hahn searched for suitable land for the 200 or so people from the Zebra so that they could settle together as a religious community. He accidentally met William Dutton who had just paid for the Mt Barker Special Survey of 1839. Hahn asked for 100 acres, to be rent free in the first year, to help the Lutherans become established near Mt Barker. Around 150 acres were allotted to the Germans by Dutton, Finniss and MacFarlane from the Mt Barker Special Survey and 240 acres were purchased from the government. Soon more German Lutherans, including some from Klemzig and Pastor Kavel’s group joined the original group led by Captain Hahn. They formed a village in early 1839 along traditional German lines and called it Hahndorf after the Captain that had been so helpful to them. The story of Hahndorf had begun. The land was divided between the 54 founding Lutheran families and Hahndorf thus became the second (after Klemzig) and eventually oldest surviving German settlement in Australia. But it did not remain that way for long. In the 1840s some families moved away to other areas of German settlement, partly because of religious splits between Pastor Kavel and Pastor Fritzsche and by the 1850s English background families started moving into the village of Hahndorf as well. As most families had a frontage to the main street many of the original buildings from the 1840s and early 1850s remain today with their typical German architectural style. They include houses, the old mill (the first settlers grew wheat for the Adelaide market), two Lutheran churches, St. Pauls (1890) and St. Michaels (1858, the second church on the site - the first one opened in 1840), two of the early hotels, several early stores and the Hahndorf Academy. The Hahndorf Academy opened in 1857 as a school for the Lutherans where they were taught in German but learned English as well. The current large Academy building was built with its two storeys in 1871. In 1876 it also became a Lutheran seminary for a short time before reverting to a secular Academy which finally closed in 1912.

Mr Hans Heysen Painter of S.A. / photographed by R. Donaldson, photographed by R. Donaldson
Hans Heysen with pony, Hahndorf, Adelaide Hills, January 1950, photographer R. Donaldson, PIX Magazine, State Library of New South Wales, ON 388/Box 004/Item 006, archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110585544

Hans Heysen, Adelaide Hills, photographed by R. Donaldson
Hans Heysen, Adelaide Hills, January 1950, photographer R. Donaldson, PIX Magazine, State Library of New South Wales, ON 388/Box 004/Item 006, archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110585544

Hahndorf

Latest Images of Hahndorf, Adelaide

Locations

International Sites

Campervan Hire NZ