German Place Names

During World War I anti-German feeling ran high in South Australia. Despite the Lutheran communities pledging support for the British Crown and those of German descent contributing to the Wounded Soldiers Fund, "Germans" were victimised. It mattered not if the German-born were naturalised or if an Australian-born were a third generation born in Australia.

The German newspaper, schools and clubs were closed. Many, particularly community leaders, were interned, at first on Torrens Island and later in New South Wales. Some internees had sons serving with the Australian Army and many of these were casualties of the war. Other "Germans" lost their jobs, leaving their families in financial difficulties. Hermann Robert Homburg, born 1874 in Norwood to a father who had arrived 20 years earlier, was forced to resign - and he was the Attorney-General!

By 1917 the anti-German frenzy had spread to German place names. A Nomenclature Committee was set up to make recommendations for changes from names of "foreign enemy origin" to British or South Australian native names. Some suggested names were altered by the Government. The Nomenclature Act was passed in late 1917 and the final list of sixty-nine South Australian place name changes were gazetted in January 1918. Some names were translations into English, eg Steinfeld to Stonefield, Bethanien to Bethany. Others were given an aboriginal name, eg Friedrichswalde to Tarnma, Mount Ferdinand to Mount Warrabillinna. Other names commemorated the battles in France eg Verdun, Polygon Ridge, Jutland, or the names of Australian military leaders, eg Haig, Allenby, Jellicoe.

Yet the committee overlooked some German names. The capital city, Adelaide, had been named for the German-born wife of King William IV. Sedan was noted at the time as the name of a German victory in the 1870 War. However a newspaper correspondent explained that it commemorated the French defeat rather than the German victory!

Hahndorf, which had been changed to Ambleside, reverted to its original name in 1935. So it is possible that someone, according to the official records, was born and died in Hahndorf and married in Ambleside without changing his residence! Other place names were changed back in 1975 and 1986. Some of these places have been "swallowed" by nearby suburbs.

It is pleasing to note that in 1971 the Hundred of Bockelberg was proclaimed on Eyre Peninsula. George Baron Bockelberg, MP, was the Australian-born son of a German colonist, Fedor Baron Bockelberg. Another son, Felix Baron Bockelberg, was killed in action 3-5-1918 at Es Salt, Palestine. The naming is a step towards recognising and honouring the German settlers who contributed so much to South Australia and the nation.

There were also German place names changed in other states. The following is a list of the South Australian changes during WWI with the location and later changes noted. A date only in the later changes indicates when the placename reverted to its former German name.

Former name	New name	Location	Later changes
Bartsch's Creek	Yedlakoo Creek	south of Lake Eyre	Bartsch Creek 1986
Basedow, Hundred of	French, Hundred of	north-east of Hawker
Bauer, Cape	Wondoma, Cape	near Streaky Bay	1948
Berlin Rock	Panpandie Rock	off Louth Bay, Eyre Peninsula
Bethanien	Bethany	south-east of Tanunda
Bismarck	Weeroopa	now part of Brooklyn Park
Blumberg	Birdwood	Adelaide Hills
Blumenthal	Lakkari	Hundred of Mudla Wirra
Buchfelde	Loos	near Gawler River, Adelaide Plains
Carlsruhe	Kunden	near Waterloo, north of Kapunda
Ehrenbreitstein	Mount Yerila	west of Lake Callabonna
Ferdinand Creek	Ernabella Creek	Musgrave Ranges
Friedrichstadt	Tangari	Hundred of Kuitpo
Friedrichswalde	Tarnma	north of Kapunda
Gebhardt's Hills	Polygon Ridge	north of Cadell	Gebhardt Hills 1986
German Creek	Benara Creek	west of Mount Gambier	1986
German Pass	Tappa Pass	east of Angaston
Germantown Hill	Vimy Ridge	south-west of Bridgewater, Adelaide Hills
Gottlieb's Well	Parnggi Well	south of Terowie
Grunberg	Karalta	north-east of Angaston	Gruenberg 1975
Grunthal	Verdun	near Hahndorf
Hahndorf	Ambleside	Adelaide Hills	1935
Hasse's Mound	Larelar Mound	north-east of Leigh Creek
Heidelberg	Kobandilla	now part of Klemzig
Hergott Springs	Marree	Far-North
Hildesheim	Punthari	north of Mannum
Hoffnungsthal	Karrawirra	near Lyndoch	1975
Homburg, Hundred of	Haig, Hundred of	north-west of Cummins
Jaenschtown	Kerkanya	now part of Murray Bridge
Kaiserstuhl	Mount Kitchener	south-east of Tanunda
Klaebes	Kilto	east of Burra
Klemzig	Gaza	on River Torrens north-east of Adelaide	1935
Krause Rock	Marti Rock	south-west of Point Drummond near Coffin Bay
Krichauff	Beatty	between Eudunda and Morgan	Mount Mary 1940
Krichauff, Hundred of	Beatty, Hundred of	between Eudunda and Morgan
Kronsdorf	Kabminye	south of Tanunda	Krondorf 1975
Langdorf	Kaldukee	near Tanunda
Langmeil	Bilyara	suburb of Tanunda	1975
Lobethal	Tweedvale	Adelaide Hills	1935
Meyer, Mount	Mount Kauto	east of Lake Eyre
Mount Ferdinand	Mount Warrabillinna	Musgrave Ranges
Muller's Hill	Yandina Hill	near Copley
Neudorf	Mamburdi	north-west of Lobethal	1986
Neukirch	Dimchurch	north-east of Nuriootpa	1975
New Hamburg	Willyaroo	south of Strathalbyn
New Mecklenburg	Gomersal	south-west of Tanunda
Oliventhal	Olivedale	now part of Birdwood
Paech, Hundred of	Cannawigra, Hundred of	east of Keith
Petersburg	Peterborough
Pflaum, Hundred of	Geegeela, Hundred of	north-east of Naracoorte
Rhine (North), Hundred of	Jellicoe, Hundred of	near Keyneton
Rhine (South), Hundred of	Jutland, Hundred of	near Springton
Rhine Hill	Mons	west of Sedan
Rhine Park	Kongolia	east of Cambrai
Rhine River North	The Somme	Keyneton, into River Marne	Somme Creek 1971
Rhine River South	The Marne	Eden Valley-Cambrai, into River Murray	Marne River 1971
Rhine Villa	Cambrai	south of Sedan
Rosenthal	Rosedale	north-east of Gawler
Scherk, Hundred of	Sturdee, Hundred of	County Hopetoun, West Coast
Schoenthal	Boongala	east of Lobethal	1986
Schomburgk, Hundred of	Maude, Hundred of	between Burra and Morgan
Schreiberhau	Warre	near Tanunda	Schreiberau 1975
Seppelts	Dorrien	south of Nuriootpa
Siegersdorf	Bultawilta	north of Tanunda	1975
Steinfeld	Stonefield	north-east of Truro	1986
Summerfeldt	Summerfield	south-west of Mannum
Vogelsang's Corner	Teerkoore	near Robertstown	Vogelsang Corner 1986
von Doussa, Hundred of	Allenby, Hundred of	south-west of Lameroo
Wusser's Nob	Karun Nob	near Leigh Creek	Wusser Nob 1983

Sources

SA Government Gazette, 10 Jan 1918
Various atlases and gazetteers