Keith Conlon in Linked In
A momentous exodus of ‘0ld Lutheran’ religious refugees to South Australia began hashtagOTD 8 July 1838. Families from Klemzig in Prussia (now Poland) sailed down the Oder River to Hamburg, their departure point for the new reformist colony of South Australia. The ‘Paradise of Dissent’ offered freedom of religion.
A 1938 memorial for their leader Pastor August Kavel at Langmeil Church in the Barossa Valley credits him as‘The founder of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Australia’.
Kavel Memorial Monument Australia
His flock led the way for more. They established settlements at Klemzig, Glen Osmond, Lobethal, Bethany and Hahndorf and other villages in the Barossa and beyond. German traditions remain strong to this day.
German traditions remain strong to this day.
George French Angas watercolour of Klemzig. SA State Library of South Australia
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