Aspects of Hahndorf's History
Hahndorf prospers
The gravestone of JF Paech in Hahndorf includes the place name
Part of the list of the first families to settle Hahndorf, at the Pioneer Gardens in Hahndorf
Hahndorf became a kind of half-way house for Germans arriving in the colony. They stayed in Hahndorf for a while before moving on to other newer German settlements further inland. In the South Australian Almanack for 1844 all the inhabitants of Hahndorf were listed as being farmers. As time passed and the settlement prospered and the inhabitants built more permanent and larger homes, new service industries and businesses were established in the village, especially as Hahndorf was located on the main road that led to the south-east of the colony.
The Almanack for 1864 listed new occupations such as licensed teacher, saddler, wheelwright, brickmaker and storekeeper. In the 1877 Almanack the range of occupations was broader again, including a watchmaker, lime burner, postmaster, commission agent, medical practitioner, miner, distiller, shoemaker, charcoal burner, wood carter and a mason. The original German settlers were 54 families. The Almanack of 1893 reported that the village had 740 inhabitants and 140 houses.[1]
The historian Alexandra Marsden has explained how the habits of the Germans at Hahndorf in their private lives were quite different from their public interactions with other South Australians:
It can be seen that the Germans at Hahndorf were quickly integrated into the economic structure of the infant colony, first through their vegetable and dairy produce, then in providing services for the traffic on the main eastern road. (...) In these public interactions with the rest of South Australia, they were new colonists who had adapted successfully; privately, however, in their village life, customs and religious and social attitudes they were culturally segregated, unassimilated in the environment of their time.[2]
Alexandra Marsden
♦ Notes:
1. Young et al. (1981), pp.128-129
2. Marsden, Alexandra. (1981). Hahndorf in the 19th Century: Development and Daily Life. In: Young et al. (1981). p.133
♦ References:
Young, G., Harmstorf, I., Brasse, L., Marsden, A. (1981). Hahndorf survey Vols 1 & 2. [Survey for the Australian Heritage Commission] Adelaide: Techsearch.