Hahndorf, Adelaide

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Well everyone else seemed to know about the German village of Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills except yours truely. We went with a tour group but I am told you can easily go by the local bus.

Hahndorf is the oldest German settlement in Australia and very nice it is too. We strolled along the
main street...passed by the home made icecream and headed for the beer tasting at the local pub. I tried three different varieties of German beer and all were pretty good.

Quite a few little shops tempted me to take home some souvenirs.

An aside...I have just learnt 'Hahndorf' means 'Rooster' so I wonder why the name was chosen...

Hahndorf is supposed to be the oldest German settlement in Australia. It was founded in 1839 by Lutheran from Prussia and was named after Dirk Hahn, captain of the vessel that brought them over.
Hahndorf certainly is a charming little village, where you can taste some German food & beer. The little museum with displays of the village's history is also worth a visit.
If you're using public transportation, Hahndorf is served by buses 164, 164F, 165M, 166M, and 840F. The journey from downtown Adelaide takes about one hour.

Handorf: Obviously the German immigrants came to adelaide in the early years for straits settlement. Most stuffs (eg, cakes, cheese, leather goods, sheep porducts....etc") are all locally produced. Usually the place can be quite packed with people over the weekends. I had my afternoon tea at this nice country setup cafe where they served large scones with yummy jams and cream.YUM*
And Handorf has Birkenstock outlet, good range of choices of footwear.Heh.
Souvenir shops can often be seen along the streets.Pretty straight forward. No chances of getting lost.

This was a plus for the trip - we got to pick our very own strawberries while me & my gang were in Hanhdorf.

The farm dates back to the 1830s when the Paech family settled down in Hanhdorf. It is still owned by the Paech family. The farm grows strawberries, sweetcorn and mixed vegetables but had since expanded to include sale of home made style jams, pickles, chutneys and sauces.

Strawberry season is between October-May so by the time we arrived in April, the best batches were already gone....but even that, did not dampen our spirits as 4 grown-ups were springing among strawberry beds eager to pick out the juicest of them all. The strawberries were fresh, sweet, juicy and succulent as we managed to find some over-ripe ones, not that we mind at all. Several we just popped straight into our mouths as the farm had assured us that they do not use any chemicals on their plants. We just don't get to eat FRESH strawberries like this back home! We managed to cart 2 large containers of strawberries, provided by the farm for free, back to our apartments, which we would wolved down with plenty of ice-cream! I remembered that we paid about A$2 each for about 1kg worth of strawberries, which was DIRT-cheap when compared to the stuff we had to pay for air-flown in from other countries.

Entry to the strawberry patches requires A$2 per pax.

The farm also has beautiful rose covered walkways. The perfume of red roses was just intoxicating.

Don't miss out on the strawberry jams (but what else) and the rose petal jams as well!

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Hahndorf is the oldest German community in Australia. It is now a a tourist attraction with old buildings reflecting the early architecture of the community. Craft shops galore: foods, leathers, wood working, fabric etc. About 45 - 50 minutes on a local bus for just $4. Certainly worth a visit.

This is a photo taken at the quaint little German/Australian tourist town of Hahndorf, in the Adelaide Hills.

There's not quite as much German charm in the town as there used to be in years gone by, but it is still nice, and there are many quality Australian shops as well.
There's a lot of history here too, in the old German buildings. I especially recommend the museum.

I really enjoy the bakery, especially the German one, the handmade boiled sweets shop, ice cream parlour, the leathercrafts shop, souvenir shops - truly we spent a
whole day just exploring one side of the street!

(My brochure says there are more than 100 venues in town to browse, and I can well believe it...it's a very long street and packed with shops to browse or buy in)

The German people who immigrated here to the Adelaide Hills and the Barossa Valley in the 1830's played a very important role in the development of the area (which if you're interested to learn further details of, you can read more in the Travelogue at the bottom of my Adelaide pages)

This is the largest regional Art Gallery in South Australia. It has a gift shop, artists in residence, and works on display by the famous German immigrant artist Hans Heysen (he became one of Australia's most famous artists)

It is also home to the German Migration Museum, which I really enjoyed.
You can see many writings, books and relics from the German's early days of settlement history in the region.

What can I say about this historic German town in the Adelaide Hills? Charming, lovely, seductive - made for a great day out of Adelaide - especially on the weekdays when you need not contend with the weekend crowd!

Many of Hanhdorf's inhabitants were descendants of Lutherans from Prussia (now Germany), escaping religious prosecution in the 1800s. In 1838, they reached Port Adelaide, and the kind hearted Captain of their ship was so concerned for their livelihood, he sought out this piece of land for their settlement. In gratitude, they name the township Hanhdorf, in honour of the kind Captain.

There are many old buildings lining the streets, stately old homes, charming cottages and ethnic restaurants, all exuding a different kind of European charm, one that is rich in Bavarian heritage. Come here for German food (like sausages and sauerkraut) and beer, but of course. Don't get me wrong, it is quite a touristy place, but one that had not overdone it in zest. Plenty of art and craft galleries, wineries and ethnic grocery shops exist peacefully, all while trying their best to charm you into parting your money from your wallet/purse!

Think I took Metro Bus service 840 from the city (via day-trip ticket) and the journey lasted about 40 minutes.

Settled in 1839 by Prussian and East German immigrants, Hahndorf is Australia's oldest surviving German settlement.

Today Hahndorf is a flourishing community that attracts visitors from all over the world. The town's main street has many historic buildings some of which have been restored to their former character, while the 100-year-old elm and plane trees which line main street provide shade for the many craft shops, galleries and restaurants that now call this area home.

I didn't fancy much about Adelaide.
Probably because we lived out in woop woop with no decent shops for miles and not much to do. But when we first arrived, we went and visited Adelaide Hills and I would recommend this place.
Harndorf is a quaint Germain town with lovely cafes and craft shops.