Historical Australian Towns: Tanunda, SA: Town With German Traditions

The town of Tanunda is located in the Barossa Valley region of South Australia, 70 kilometres northeast of Adelaide. The town's name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning "water hole".

Tanunda was formed around the Lutheran settlements at Bethany and Langmeil.

The Peramangk People

The Peramangk people were also called the Mount Barker Tribe (also known as the “Fire Makers” and “Red Ochre Peoples”).

The Adelaide Hills are part of the traditional lands of the Peramangk Aboriginal people.

Kinship, culture and language similarities were shared with Kaurna to the West, Ngadjuri to the north, Ngarrindjeri to the south and Meru to the east. However, clear boundaries existed between Clans.

The Australian scientist Norman Tindale who worked closely with the Peramangk people, recorded at least eight family groups of Peramangk in the extended area.

Children inherited their mother's moiety (matrilineal descent system). A moiety divides the social world into two groups with reciprocal relationships and responsibilities. Marriages are usually arranged with members of the opposite moiety. People who share the same moiety are considered siblings and marriage between them is forbidden.

Peramangk females traditionally passed through various life stages. From a very early age, they were promised to much older men. Ceremonies would be performed at the onset of puberty involving the plucking out of body hair, being covered in red ochre and learning the affiliations of the family and Dreaming stories. Other stages involved chevron scarring of the shoulders and learning the full knowledge of women’s business and the traditional lore and Dreaming.

Males belonging to the Peramangk people also passed through life stages and learnt the skills of hunting, ceremonies and lore. At the age of 11-13, he would undergo his first initiation ceremony, which involved being hit with branches of eucalyptus leaves.

Aboriginal man of South Australia, Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954)

According to Edward John Eyre, in 1844, being initiated into a full adult involved being smeared: "head to foot, with red ochre and grease", while "a band of elderly women, generally the mother and other near relatives, surround the group, crying or lamenting, and lacerating their thighs and backs with shells or flints, until the blood streams down." The initiation also involved painful incisions to the body, made with rock crystal.

The act of ritual is found in all known cultures. For aboriginal people, initiation ceremonies are a rite of passage: a transition point to becoming an adult and forming closer bonds with community. Dance, song, rituals and body decorations are expressions of these spiritual beliefs.

Showing three standing Aboriginal men viewed from behind; all show prominent cicatrices (body scars); the man in the centre also wears a waist band and a string necklace. National Museum of Australia

Living primarily as hunter-gatherers; hunting and foraging for food from the land, meant that Peramangk people possessed complex skills and deep knowledge of the environment in which they lived.

The evidence of the long history of the Peramangk people in the Adelaide Hills can be found in artefacts, scar trees and paintings in rock shelters.

Aboriginal people were displaced by the pastoral use of land, diseases to which they lacked immunity and violence resulting from conflict.

Aboriginal sheilds, Museum of South Australia

Europeans

South Australia's first Surveyor-General Colonel William Light named the Barossa Valley in 1837 after Barrosa in Spain.

Photograph of painting of Colonel William Light,- The first Surveyor General of South Australia, 1 January 1786

The Germans Arrive: Overview

The eccentric German amateur geologist Johann Mange (1788 – 1852) explored the Barossa Valley in 1839 for the South Australian Company, where he discovered many rocks and minerals.

Mange had been born in the town of Steinau, Hesse, Germany. But after the death of his wife in 1830, he moved to England and his friend, George Fife Angas, who had established the South Australian Company, encouraged him to travel to the new colony of South Australia for employment.

As Menge explored the Barossa Valley, he called it "New Silesia", as Silesia was the homeland of the German Lutherans, who had settled at Hahndorf and other places near Adelaide, with the assistance of George Fife Angas and Menge.

Menge wrote to Angas of the Barossa Valley that "...I am satisfied that New Silesia will furnish the province with such a quality of wine that we shall drink it as cheap as in Cape Town". Prophetic words indeed.

Johann Gramp arrived on the Solway, at Port Adelaide, on 16 October 1837. Later he bought land at Jacob's Creek near Rowland Flat and planted German grapevine cuttings in 1847. He produced his first wine in 1850.

George Fife Angus had met August Kavel, a Lutheran pastor from the group of Silesian farmers. This group were experiencing religious persecution in Germany when they first met.

George Fife Angus had been born in England, of Scottish heritage. But he was a devout Baptist, and he thought that the South Australian Colony, which had no established church or convict labour, would be a good place for the Silesian farmers and his fellow nonconformists to settle and find religious liberty.

George Fife Angas (c.1860)

August Kavel about 1840

The first German settlers in the Tanunda region settled the village of Bethanien (later Bethany) in the fields beside the North Para River, in the region they called Neusschlesien (New Silesia).

The centre of the town of Tanunda was laid out by Charles Flaxman, who was granted the land in 1842. Goat Square (Der Ziegenmarkt) was originally the marketplace of the town. Three original cottages survive on corners of the square, with distinctive German style of architecture.

The street names around Goat Square were selected by Charles Flaxman, named after his children: John, Maria, Charles, Elizabeth, Jane, Samuel and Ellen.

Another village developed only a few kilometres away, led by Christian Auricht, at Langmeil, after the congregation split. In the 1850s, the town of Tanunda developed between these two villages.

Thousands of German people settled in the Barossa Valley and most tried to retain their German traditions and language. However, a spoken dialect developed called Barossa Deutsch.

1840s

Twenty-eight families followed their Pastor, Gotthard Daniel Fritzsche and set up the village of Bethanien, now Bethany, in February 1842.

Christian Auricht named the settlement of Langmeil, which is the site of today's Langmeil Winery. Auricht, a blacksmith, who left Prussia in 1838, seeking religious freedom, had established a blacksmith business on the banks of the North Para River by 1843. Within a few years, other shops were operating and providing goods and services to locals and travellers on their way to Kapunda and Burra.

In December 1847 German people in South Australia had a German-language newspaper, produced by Johann Menge and Carl Kornhardt. After Menge left for the goldfields a new paper was produced in Tanunda, called, Die Australische Deutsche Zeitung.

The settlers of Tanunda set to work growing fruit and vegetables and in 1847, they added grapevines, to their thriving fields. Within twenty years, wine grapes had become the main product of the region.

Turkey Flat Vineyard was founded by Johann Frederick August Fiedler in 1847. He planted Shiraz on the property and the vines are believed to be the oldest authenticated vines that are still producing fruit for commercial use. The name Turkey Flat relates to how this area of flatlands was once home to a great many wild turkeys.

Carl August Sobels arrived in South Australia in 1847. He later moved to Tanunda, and planted his own vineyard and built his own winery, he then made his own wine, with the help of his son.

Sometime before 1848, a hotel was built and licensed as the Alliance Hotel, at 30 Murray St. The owner, Ferdinand Osswald, opened the hotel in the same year.

Tanunda Fancy Bazaar shop selling lanterns, basketware etc. stands in Tanunda next to the Telegraph Station. Approximately 1864

1850s

In the 1850s, the town of Tanunda developed between the two villages of Bethany and Langmeil. Eventually, the town's combined and became, Tanunda.

In 1851 a visitor to the town reported:

"this tract is thickly populated with Germans from one end to the other.
Tanunda proper, in the hundred of Moorooroo,
contains about 60 tenements, among them several
good-looking stores. There are butchers, bakers,
shoemakers, and other usual tradesman, Germans.
There is a steam flour-mill, belonging also, as we
understand, to a German, with a lively engine of
six-horse power. We can testify to the tenacity of
its vigour, as it is not 30 yards from the inn; after
being ceaseless in noise all day, it began to work
day and night; and as there was no possibility of
closing our windows from the state of the weather,
we had its running accompaniment of puff and blows
constantly in our ears."

South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Thursday 26 June 1851

By 1851, 7000 Germans had settled in the colony of South Australia.

An Aboriginal encampment near the Adelaide foothills in an 1854 painting by Alexander Schramm, 6QEhI-1L6vle5g at Google Cultural Institute

The District Council was formed in 1855.

1860s

A police station and courthouse were first built in 1860.

The Tanunda Liedertafel male voice choir was established in 1861.

Tanunda Fancy Bazaar shop selling lanterns, basketware etc. stands in Tanunda next to the Telegraph Station. 1864, SLSA

The Telegraph Station was built in 1865.

The original Tanunda Hotel, meeting place of early Barossa Valley settlers. Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954),

A new Tanunda Court House was built in 1866.

Departure of the first Lutheran missionaries from Langmeil, Tanunda for Lake Killalpaninna at Hermannsburg Mission on 9th October 1866. A horse drawn wagon is about the pass a large crowd including a number of men in top hats. The group included Pastor J.F. Goessling and Ernst Homann. circa 1866

St John's Lutheran Church built in 1868.

1870s

Tanunda's Murray Street showing George Fischer's Tanunda Hotel. Five small girls are standing outside. Fischer was proprietor of the hotel from 1861-1871. The Post Office can be seen a few buildings down the street next door to Christen's Fancy Bazaar. The Telegraph Station is located within the Post Office building. 1870. SLSA

The main street of Tanunda in the 1870s consists of a few two storey buildings and several single storey dwellings. Rough wooden fences and a few hedges line the dirt street. Footpaths are divided from the muddy road by a grassy strip. A horse and cart and the tall chimney for the flour mill can be seen in the distance. 1870, SLSA

The Flour Mill at Tanunda, pictured around 1870, set back from the road, with three storeys and a tall chimney. Horses and carts are waiting outside. A pigeon cote can be seen near the mill, presumably to deter the birds from eating the grain. State Library of SA

The Institute building located at 28 Murray St was built in 1879.

1880s

Court house, Tanunda. SA, 1880, SLSA

South Australian man and woman. Created: 1 January 1881. This work is in the public domain

A wedding party riding in a horse drawn wagon at Tanunda, SA. SLSA, 1880.

1890s

Château Tanunda was established in 1890 and built with bluestone quarried from Bethany. The French wine industry had been severely damaged during the Great French Wine Blight, caused by aphid-like pests (Phylloxera Vitifoliae).

With the drop in the supply of French wines, the Barossa wine industry saw the opportunity for export but needed to organise, and so, Château Tanunda was developed as a winery.

Murray Street, Tanunda, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 12 September 1896

OUR WINE and BRANDY INDUSTRIES. THE CHATEAU TANUNDA. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 12 September 1896

OUR WINE and BRANDY INDUSTRIES. THE CHATEAU TANUNDA.Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 12 September 1896

Blacksmith Shop at Tanunda, about 1898. State Library of SA

1900s

A. Ohlmeyer's watch, clock and jeweller store, Tanunda, S.A. - very early 1900s. PD

Tanunda, SA, in approximately 1904. Bethany was the first settlement in the Barossa Valley area. State Library of SA

FBEE EVANGELISTIC LUTHERAN CHURCH, TANUNDA, SA. (built in 1871). Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 - 1951), Friday 22 December 1905,

TANUNDA INSTITUTE. SA. Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 - 1951), Friday 11 October 1907

Ruins of the old mill, SCHLINKE'S CREEK, TANUNDA. Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 - 1951), Friday 9 October 1908

View from Tanunda Post office, about 1908. State Library of SA

Tanunda, SA, Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 - 1951), Friday 11 September 1908

Tanunda, SA. Jule and Ern Ohlmeyer with a home-made motor car made by their father, Albert, in 1904. Luggage is carried on a small platform at the rear and two terrier dogs sit with the men. Photo about 1910. State Library of SA

Tanunda Hotel,SA, about 1910. State Library of SA

Tanunda Show, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 26 February 1910

A fine old shearer, Tanunda Show, SA, (George Boxer, aged 72. shearing pet ewe) Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 26 February 1910

GOLDEN WEDDING AT TANUNDA. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 12 August 1911

Tanunda Flour Mill, SA, boasts three storeys and a tall chimney. A horse and cart are waiting outsided, about 1911, State Library of SA

Tanunda, SA, showing Tanunda Hotel in Murray Street. RC Sobels was the proprietor at the time of this photograph. A horse is hitched to a pole in the foreground. Two horses are pulling a cart outside the hotel, circa 1911. State Library of SA

Tennis at Tanunda, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 15 June 1912

Mr Herbert Henzenroeder. of Tanunda is an adept at snake-catching, and has already secured over a score of the reptiles this season. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 7 December 1912,

Tanunda's new recreation park, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 13 April 1912

LANGMEIL CHURCH, TANUNDA, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 6 December 1913

Group of Lutheran teachers who have been undergoing a course of instruction in Junior Cadet training at the Langmeil German School, Tanunda. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 20 September 1913

The Tanunda Club , SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 19 April 1913,

Tanunda's new hall, SA. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 7 June 1913

Grape carriers at Tanunda, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 19 April 1913

WW1

During WWI, anti-German sentiments resulted in both Langmeil and Bethanien being renamed to Bilyara, and Bethany respectively. Langmeil had its name reverted from Bilyara in 1975.

YOUNG MEN FROM TANUNDA WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED FOR ACTIVE SERVICE. Standing (left to right:— M. Brock, G. L. Heuzenroeder, H. Heuzenroeder, C. Kindler
W. S. Schroeder, L. Brock. Sitting:— L. Hoffman, R. Reibe, E. R. Tuck, andH. Lehmann. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 6 November 1915

O D D F E L L O W S H I P AT TANUNDA, SA. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 3 July 1915,

A bakery at Tanunda, SA; two horse drawn delivery carts in the foreground with two bakers and produce, circa 1916 State Library of SA.

1920s

The Millinery department at E. Schrapel and Sons shop, Tanunda, SA, about 1922. State Library of SA

Tanunda recreation park, SA, circa 1927. State Library of SA

Back to Tanunda, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 5 March 1927

Tanunda Fire Brigade, SA, Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), Friday 20 July 1928

A South Australian scene from Chateau Tanunda. and showing the town of Bethany in the distance, Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1875 - 1929), Thursday 21 February 1929

1930s

Grape pickers in Barossa Valley vineyard with cart laden with grapes and pulled by six-horse team. The side of the cart has the name H.A. Jantke, Tanunda on a plate. (A Hermann Alfred Jantke was born at Light's Pass in 1880). State Library of SA. Approximately 1930

The gardens, Murray Street, Tanunda.SA, about 1930. State Library of SA

TANUNDA: A NORTHERN GEM. SA Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 23 June 1932

THIS CHURCH HAS TRAVELLED. Tanunda now has a Methodist Church of its own, one taken by road from Nuriootpa, where it was replaced by a new building. It was lifted bodily at Nuriootpa, and carried over the four miles to Tanunda, where the president of the Methodist Conference (Rev. E. M. Ingamells) performed the opening ceremony Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 17 June 1937

Annual ball at Tanunda, SA. Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 10 September 1938

1940s and WWII

TANUNDA RAISES OVER £800. The recent Australia Day celebrations and queen competition at Tanunda resulted in over £800 being raised for patriotic funds. A feature was a procession in which the floats carrying the various queens were prominent. The float shown was that of the Queen of the Air (Miss Kath. Moran) which gained first prize. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 15 May 1941

"Mrs. Aubrey G Schrapel. of Tanunda, has been officially advised that her husband. Dvr A G. Schrapel, 4th Reserve MT Coy, died of illness in Siam on October 12, 1943. He left for overseas in April, 1941, and was taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore."

"Private Casualty Advices" The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954) 1 November 1945

8,000 Spectators At Tanunda Band Carnival, SA, Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 26 October 1946

8,000 Spectators At Tanunda Band Carnival. SA. Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 26 October 1946

FESTIVAL AT TANUNDA, BAROSSA VALLEY, S.A.- 1948, Aussie~mobs

Leader (Angaston, SA : 1918 - 1954), Thursday 13 October 1949

BETHANY Lutheran Church, near Tanunda, has a bell morethan 100 years old. Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 16 April 1949

1950s

Festival floats at Tanunda, SA, Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 14 April 1951

At the Tanunda Show, SA, (from left) Messrs. V. Clasolm (Maitland), S. Clasolm (Weetulta), E. B. Schuz (Sedan), C. B. Schulz (Galga). Chronicle (Adelaide, SA :1895 - 1954), Thursday 8 March 1951

At the Tanunda Show, SA, (from left) Misses D. Krieg, J. Milde, M. Schulz, B. Thiele, M. Rohrloch, M. Minge and E. Thiele. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 8 March 1951

1960s

Tanunda main street, SA, 1960. State Records of SA

1980s

The court house was restored in the 1980s.

Around Tanunda

This 1856 post office building is now operating as the Tanunda Museum, SA

Schrapels, Tanunda, SA, established in 1884 was a hardware drapery and shoe shop. This store was built around 1910. Schrapels provided the first electricity for the town of Tanunda from 1920. Denisbin

Rieschiek Cottage, Tanunda, SA, in Goat Square built around 1845. Rieschiek was the shoemaker. Denisbin

The Lutheran School. Tanunda, SA, attached to Langmeil Lutheran church. It was established in 1845. This old stone classroom was built in 1865. Denisbin

The Langmeil Lutheran church, Tanunda, SA. Church was built in 1888 replacing an earlier 1846 church. Denisbin

Tanunda Railway Station, SA. The railway line opened to Tanunda in 1911. The first wooden station in Tanunda was replaced with this fine stone station in 1913. The line closed in the 1980s. It is now the local radio station

The Tanunda Club, SA, established by local German businessmen in 1891. This oldest part is on the left. The right hand part was built around 1920. Denisbin

Tanunda original Couthouse, SA. Built in 1866 the year the Post Office, now the museum in the Main Street was built. Now a private residence. Denisbin

Cafe at the old flour mill in Tanunda, Tanunda, SA, was one of the early mills in SA, dating from 1848

Tanunda Hotel, Murray Street, Tanunda, SA, originally built of local stone in 1845-46, and the first licence was granted in 1847. Has had significant alterations since the time