Barossa Pioneer MemorialPrint Page

The monument commemorates the pioneers of Barossa.

Neuschlesien, New Silesia or Bethanien and later Bethany, about 2 kilometres from Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, was established by a group of Lutheran migrants who arrived with Pastor Gotthard Daniel Frietzsche in 1841. Most of these 270 immigrants had come from Posen and Silesia. After their arrival at Port Adelaide on the Skjold, on 27 October, the majority of them moved to the established German settlements of Hahndorf and Klemzig. The young colony of South Australia had now more than 1,800 German immigrants among its population of 14,000.

Early in 1842 nearly a hundred of this group of migrants were joined by other Lutherans, already living at Hahndorf, to establish the first village in the Barossa Valley on land the local Aborigines referred to as Taninda. About 2080 acres were leased, and later bought, from George Fife Angas to start their new venture. The remaining members who had come on the Skjold founded Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills. The settlement of Bethany in 1842 was arranged by Angas` second agent, Forster, and in the first year, 28 Lutheran families, comprising 117 persons including 34 children arrived. The majority of these people were farmers, while others were tradesmen of various kinds.

Location

Details

Dedication