Kindermann's a South Australian German focus in Adelaide city from 1860; popular cafe with businessmen

Kindermann's Cafe (at right) Rundle Street, Adelaide city, between 1918 and 1920 – the time of owner Julius Kindermann's death and the sale of the cafe, originally opened in 1860, to W. H. Bishop & Sons. Besides South Australian Germans, the cafe was widely popular with the city businessmen.
Image courtesy State Library of South Australia

Kindermann's Cafe, from 1860 on Rundle Street near the King William Street corner, became one of the best known locations for the German presence in pre-World War I Adelaide city.

The café was started by Gustav Kindermann, born at Petershagen, near Minder, on the Weser, Germany, who arrived in Bendigo, Victoria, in 1852, to briefly try his luck on the goldfields. He crossed to South Australia and, in 1853, bought the the Phillipi bakery business in Hindley Street, Adelaide city, next to Leopold Conrad's butcher shop. He married Julia Bock, daughter of Charles Bock, at one time linked with Burra Burra copper mine.

Kindermann opened his café in Rundle Street in 1860. Kindermann took up shares in German Club to help it build Albert Hall and its premises in Pirie Street, Adelaide city. He also was an honorary member of benefit society Deutscher Krankancaassaa, with an interest in freemasonry and membership of the United Tradesmen's Lodge.

Kindermann, who visited Germany in 1872 and 1881, died in 1895, with The Advertiser reporting that South Australia had lost “one of its oldest and most respected German colonists” and his cafe was one of the “one of the best-known resorts of business men”. Although partly paralysed in later years, with his sons William and Julius as managers,“the old gentleman never lost his interest in the cafe, in his accustomed seat, drinking his coffee, smoking his cigar, and chatting to his friends”. Julius Kindemann later took over as cafe owner.

Kindemann’s café was a popular place for South Australia Germans such as Charles Rasp, who made a fortune as the “silver king” of Broken Hill. Rasp met his future wife Agnes Maria Louise Klevesahl – lated dubbed the “countess of Adelaide” – when he brought Broken Hill ore to be assayed in Adelaide and she was working as a waitress at Kindermann’s café. Hermann Heinicke, Adelaide's premier violinist, violin teacher and an orchestra leader, played chess at Kindermann's Café in his later years.

Kindermann’s café was widely popular pre-World War I beyond South Australian German identities. Jack Howard, a fellow Queen’s School, North Adelaide, boarder and close friend of South Australia’s famous aviator brothers, Ross and Keith Smith, recalled how they “always lunched in a little private room at Kindermann’s Cafe” before the war.

Julius Kindemann died in 1918 and the café was bought two years later by W. H. Bishop & Sons, with the purchase including a food factory in Carrington Street, Adelaide city. The café continued in Rundle Street until 1934 but as Bishop’s.

In 1929, The News in Adelaide reported that “Bishop's Cafe, in Rundle street, formerly known as Kindermann's, can boast probably the oldest body of regular frequenters. Mr. A. Somerville (of Harris,Scarfe Ltd) has lunched there for about 50 years, and Mr. O. Higginbottom for 45 years.” Other long-standing diners were former attorney general Herman Homburg, William Brooker (formerly of Crooks & Brooker), James Smith (of James Smith Ltd), Robert McEwin, R. W. Swan, M. H. Mead, A. A. Simpson, Stanley Oldham, H. Heinicke and S. von Bertouch.

The News noted that the coffee house was still noted for its games: “Chess, draughts and dominoes are played by keen participants who have matched their wits for years. The basement is a haven. Here, wreathed in tobacco smoke, mimic battles are waged on the chequered boards, and friends relate reminiscences of days that are now history.”