South Australian World War I backlash closes 49 Lutheran schools; in 1917; wipes out 67 German town names

Langmeil Lutheran School at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, about 1900.
Image by J.P.H. Olden, courtesy State Library of South Australia

The closing of 49 Lutheran schools was part of the fierce backlash against South Australian Germans during World War I and especially after Gallipoli and sinking of the Lusitania.

The schools were closed, with the teachers union’s strong support, in 1917 after the initial moves to ban German language lessons and church services. German clubs and newspapers were shut down and the 28,000 Lutherans (7% of the population), mostly Australian-born Germans, were harassed.

Lutheran churches in Edithburg and Netherby were burnt down among other attacks. The closures included the Lutheran Aboriginal mission at Killalpaninna run for 47 years by “Father” Vogelsang.

German settlement history was wiped from the map when 67 place names were changed.

These included Klemzig (changed to Gaza), Hahndorf (Ambleside), Hoffnungsthal (Kobandilla), Kronsdorf (Kabminya), Grunberg (Karalta) and German Creek (Benara Creek). These were later able to revert to the German names.

Others, such as Petersburg (Peterborough), Bethanien (Bethany), Blumberg (Birdwood), Friedensthal (Black Hill), Grunthal (Verdun), Herrgott Springs (Marree), Jaenschtown (Kerkanya), Rhine Hill (Mons), New Hamburg (Willyaroo) and Summerfeldt (Summerfield) were lost.

In the face of newspaper campaigns against them, the German South Australian community – disunited in itself – was unable to argue that their use of German language and culture was not linked to political goal of imperial Germany. Almost every Lutheran community had pledged loyalty to the British crown. Individual Lutheran churches and their members made regular payments to the German-Australian branch of the South Australian Wounded Soldiers’ Fund.