Hoffnungsthal South Australia | |
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Coordinates | 34°36′S138°54′E / 34.600°S 138.900°E |
Established | 1847 |
Abolished | 1853 |
Region | Barossa Valley |
Hoffnungsthal (Valley of Hope) is the location of a former German pioneer settlement, located in South Australia's Barossa Valley. [1] Founded in 1847, it was located in an ephemeral lagoon which was dry for the first years of settlement. Local Peramangk people warned the settlers that the area was prone to flooding, but this advice was ignored. In October 1853, after a week of heavy spring rains, the village was flooded and many of the houses were evacuated. After the cost of a proposed drain was seen as prohibitive, the village was eventually left deserted. Most of the settlers moved to the Barossa village of Bethanien as well as further afield.
Built on higher ground, the Lutheran church was still used until 1867, [1] when the building was also abandoned.
In the local Peramangk language, Hoffnungsthal was named Yertalla-ngga (flooding land) and between the years 1917 to 1975, it was called Karawirra as part of the changes to German sounding place names during World War I.
All that remains of the village today are the foundations of the church with a commemorative plaque honouring those buried in the now unmarked cemetery. [2]
Today, Hoffnungsthal, or what remains of it, is quiet, peaceful, soothing, a place where one can meditate, a place which seems eternal. It is hard to imagine that it once hummed with activity, and supported a thriving community for six years. Nor does it seem the place which was a broiling maelstrom, a nightmare of wind and rain and surging drama and neither does it seem a place of lost and destroyed dreams, a place of grief and tears. But it has been all of these.
On a summer's day, very late in December 1847, a small group of immigrants, most of whom came from the Gellert, gathered in the little town of Lyndoch. They were there to receive the grants of land which they had agreed to lease from the South Australian Company for twenty one years. The land was situated at the base of the Barossa Range, about 1.5 kilometres [0.93 mi] east of Lyndoch. The grants ranged from 8.1 to 3.2 hectares [20 to 8 acres]. In the centre was a vale, which seemed an ideal place to situate their village. They called it Hoffnungsthal, or Valley of Hope.
The Barossa Valley is a valley in South Australia located 60 kilometres (37 mi) 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 destination.
Barossa Valley Way is the main road linking most of the major towns of the Barossa Valley in South Australia, designated as route B19 for its entire length. It is 35 km long, roughly following the North Para River.
Tanunda is a town situated in the Barossa Valley region of South Australia. In the 2021 census, Tanunda recorded a population of 4,710 people.
The Adelaide Hills region is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. The largest town in the area, Mount Barker is one of Australia's fastest-growing towns. Before British colonisation of South Australia, the area was inhabited by the Peramangk people.
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.
The Marne River, part of the River Murray catchment, is a river that is located in the Barossa Ranges region in the Australian state of South Australia.
The Peramangk are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands traditionally comprise the Adelaide Hills, as well as lands to the west of the Murray River in mid Murraylands and through to the northern part of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia.
Barossa German is a dialect of German, predominantly spoken in the Barossa Valley region of South Australia. The prominent South Australian writer, Colin Thiele (1920–2006), whose grandparents were German immigrants, referred to "Barossa-Deutsch" as: "that quaintly inbred and hybrid language evolved from a century of linguistic isolation". It takes its name from the Barossa Valley, where many German people settled during the 19th century. Some words from Barossa German have entered South Australian English.
Bethany is a small village in South Australia about 2 km south-east of Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. It was originally named Bethanien or sometimes Neu Schlesien – New Silesia, but was changed during the First World War in an attempt to remove all German place names from Australia. Similarly, the German-language school was forced to close by the state government in 1917, with 60 students at the time.
Rowland Flat is a small South Australian town in the Barossa Valley, located on the Barossa Valley Highway between Lyndoch and Tanunda. The town has an elevation of 294m and is nestled at the foot of the Barossa Ranges. It is best known for its wineries, and proximity to Jacobs Creek, Jacobs Creek Visitor's Centre and Novotel Barossa Valley Resort.
Lyndoch is a town in Barossa Valley, located on the Barossa Valley Highway between Gawler and Tanunda, 58 km northeast of Adelaide. The town has an elevation of 175m and an average rainfall of 560.5mm. It is one of the oldest towns in South Australia.
Chateau Yaldara is an Australian winery located near Lyndoch, South Australia in the historic Barossa Valley wine-growing region.
The Barossa Range is a mountain range located in the Australian state of South Australia.
The Barossa Valley wine region is one of Australia's oldest and most premier wine regions. Located in South Australia, the Barossa Valley is about 56 km northeast of the city of Adelaide. Unlike most of Australia whose wine industry was heavily influenced by the British, the wine industry of the Barossa Valley was founded by German settlers fleeing persecution from the Prussian province of Silesia. The warm continental climate of the region promoted the production of very ripe grapes that was the linchpin of the early Australian fortified wine industry. As the modern Australian wine industry shifted towards red table wines in the mid-20th century, the Barossa Valley fell out of favor due to its reputation for being largely a Syrah from producers whose grapes were destined for blending. During this period the name "Barossa Valley" rarely appeared on wine labels. In the 1980s, the emergence of several boutique families specializing in old vine Shiraz wines began to capture international attention for the distinctive style of Barossa Shiraz, a full bodied red wine with rich chocolate and spice notes. This led to a renaissance in the Barossa Valley which catapulted the region to the forefront of the Australian wine industry.
Orlando Wines is an Australian wine company, well known for Jacob's Creek wine, first released in 1976. The company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Pernod Ricard since 1989 and is now known as Pernod Ricard Winemakers. The winery still operates in the small township of Rowland Flat, between Lyndoch and Tanunda, in South Australia's Barossa Valley wine-growing region.
Gawler East is a town north of Adelaide, South Australia in the Town of Gawler. It is on the rising ground of the Adelaide Hills east of the town of Gawler. Some parts of the suburb date from as early as the settlement of Gawler. Other parts including newer housing estates up to still being developed in the 2010s.
The Hundred of Barossa is a cadastral unit of hundred in South Australia in the northern Adelaide Hills. It lies west of the Barossa Range at the south end of the Barossa Valley and is bounded on the north and south by the North Para and South Para rivers, respectively. It is the most northern of the eleven hundreds of the County of Adelaide and was named in 1846 by Governor Frederick Robe after the Barossa Range.
Goyder is a locality in South Australia's Mid North situated in the central east of the cadastral Hundred of Goyder. It was named for the hundred which was in turn named for George Goyder, Surveyor General of South Australia at the time.
Sandy Creek Conservation Park, formerly the Sandy Creek National Park, is a protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia in the localities of Lyndoch and Sandy Creek about 42 kilometres (26 mi) north-east of the state capital of Adelaide and about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west-south-west of the town centre in Sandy Creek.
The Barossa District Football & Netball Club is an Australian sports club based in the Barossa Valley region of South Australia. The club is nicknamed the Bulldogs and represents the towns of Lyndoch and Williamstown. Sports practised at Barossa are Australian rules football and netball, with teams competing in the Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association. Under 15’s wheat back to back 2020 and 2021.