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35-494: Mount Torrens is a small town in the eastern Adelaide Hills region of South Australia , 46 kilometres (29 miles) east-north-east of the state capital, Adelaide and 8 kilometres (5 miles) east of Lobethal . It is on Onkaparinga Valley Road (B34) between the towns of Charleston and Birdwood. It is the eastern end of the Amy Gillett Bikeway , which follows the former railway alignment from Oakbank . Mount Torrens

70-636: A day, and large amounts of hail are more likely to fall here than on the Plains. German settlement in Australia German settlement in Australia began in large numbers in 1838, with the arrival of immigrants from Prussia to Adelaide , in the then colony of South Australia . German immigrants became prominent in settling South Australia and Queensland . From 1850 until World War I , German settlers and their descendants comprised

105-587: A distance of 70 km (43 mi), where a festival is held. There are two Bay to Birdwood events held on alternate years: the Run, held on even-numbered years, for vehicles manufactured up to 31 December 1959, while the Classic, held on odd-numbered years, is for vehicles manufactured between 1 January 1956 and 31 December 1986. The Tour Down Under is a major annual sporting event, which makes use of some of South Australia's most popular cycling locations, including

140-561: A few degrees cooler in the Hills than in Adelaide city centre and Plains . The days are warm in January and February, but the region generally experiences cool nights. This significant diurnal variation results in cool mean daily temperatures even in summer. The area receives a light snowfall approximately once every three to four years, occasionally enough to stay on the ground for half

175-786: A mission at Encounter Bay and was also involved with missions in the Port Lincoln area, and the pair founded a school for Kaurna people at Piltawodli in the Adelaide parklands . Teichelmann married the Scottish Margaret Nicholson in 1843, and they went on to have 14 children and settled on a farm at Morphett Vale . Schürmann married the German Lutheran Wilhelmine Charlotte Maschmedt, also from Osnabrück , in 1847, and moved to Victoria in 1853. They had nine children. The second group arrived with Pastor Kavel on

210-472: A number of emigrants in South Australia on 14 October 1850 on 15 June 1850 after leaving Hamburg . The ship almost never arrived, as it sailed straight into a major storm at Port Misery (Port Adelaide), which also wrecked the barque Grecian (three-masted, built at Sunderland , England in 1841) earlier that day. It was reported in a local newspaper of the time that the newly arrived emigrants on

245-468: A thriving community of artists and craftspeople, either in the town or nearby countryside. The Adelaide Hills wine region includes all areas of the Hills above 300 m (980 ft). The elevation leads to cooler nights during the warm summer months, important for increasing the flavour of wines during the ripening season, and higher rainfall. The Adelaide Hills region is one of the oldest wine region within Australia. The first vines were planted in

280-468: Is a popular destination for school groups as well as interstate and international visitors. Many native species of fauna can be encountered within the hills region. Among the more common species include the kookaburra , tawny frogmouth , southern brown bandicoot , kangaroo, brown tree frog , and bearded dragon . Several of the less common species include the antechinus ( Morialta Conservation Park ), heath monitor ( Scott Creek Conservation Park ) and

315-596: Is home to the Basket Range Cricket Club. A small independent weekly newspaper, The Courier , is published in Mount Barker and serves many Hills towns. Founded in 1880, the paper has never missed a print run. It has been in the hands of the same family, the Marstons, since 1954, with a circulation of 7,500 as of May 2020, down from 15,000 in its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. It is generally

350-562: Is now Camden Park . These six families were recruited from the Rheingau region of Hesse by Major Edward Macarthur . Two Lutheran missionaries whose work later proved significant in the preservation of Aboriginal Australian languages such as Bangarla and Kaurna , Clamor Wilhelm Schürmann and Christian Gottlieb Teichelmann , arrived in Adelaide on the Pestonjee Bomanjee on 12 October 1838. Schürmann founded

385-547: Is within the jurisdiction of the Adelaide Hills Council and the Mid Murray Council . The Indigenous name for the mount is unknown. The first Europeans to ascend it, on 25 January 1838, were the exploration party of Dr George Imlay and John Hill , but they did not name it. The mount and nearby town were named later after Robert Torrens , one of South Australia's founding fathers as chairman of

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420-464: The River Murray to the east of the hills. The Adelaide Hills were among the first areas of South Australia to be settled by European settlers. A number of towns in the Hills were started as German settlements ; Hahndorf and Lobethal are two examples. The original town names and architecture still reflect this. Descendants of these first settlers and others of German origin still reside in

455-639: The South Australian Colonisation Commission . The town was developed by the Dunn family in the early 1840s. Then known as Barton Springs, it incorporated a farmhouse, smithy, stables and the Cornish Arms inn. The town proper was laid out in 1853 to serve the River Murray trade at Mannum and a nearby copper mine. A small gold deposit was discovered in 1870, but by World War I the town's importance had diminished, and

490-418: The 1870s and has had only some major realignments since (the most significant of which was the boring of a new tunnel at Sleeps Hill). Commuter passenger train services used to run from the city to the town of Bridgewater in the heart of the hills but were cut back to terminate at Belair in 1987. For many Adelaide residents, a drive through the hills is a popular pastime, particularly due to proximity to

525-746: The Adelaide Hills above 300 m (980 ft). Before European settlement, the Peramangk people occupied the Adelaide Hills region, including the land from the foothills, north from Mount Barker through Harrogate , Gumeracha , Mount Pleasant and Springton to the Angaston and Gawler districts in the Barossa Valley , and also southwards to Strathalbyn and Myponga on the Fleurieu Peninsula , as well as some sites on

560-687: The GH Wappaus. Dr. Asscheanfeldt, surgeon-superintendent and among whom are two Roman Catholic missionaries. The Wappaus had sailed from Hamburg . In 1840 a letter was sent to the Old Lutherans in Prussia to encourage others to also emigrate. Included in this letter was a request for a second pastor to be sent also. The group set sail for Australia, on 11 July 1841 on the Skjold . On a trip beset with sickness, 55 people, mainly young children and

595-534: The Hills at Echunga by John Barton Hack in 1839, three years after South Australia was declared a province , with the first wines produced in 1843. The Mount Lofty area, home to Adelaide's television transmission towers, has a lookout area, restaurant and the fire-spotting tower that used to be run by the Country Fire Service . Gumeracha is home to the largest rocking horse in the world , standing at 18.3 metres (60.0 ft) (approximately

630-537: The Hills include parrots such as the Adelaide rosella , rainbow and musk lorikeets as well as large cockatoos like the Major Mitchell , and the yellow-tailed black cockatoo . Smaller resident species include the superb blue wren and eastern spinebill . Sporting and recreational activities are also popular in the hills region, with sports such as Australian rules football , cricket and soccer having very strong participation rates. The Basket Range Oval

665-641: The Hills. The area is home to the annual Medieval Fair held at Gumeracha across one weekend every April, and the English Ale Festival, also annually held each May. Highlights of the Medieval Fair include live jousting tournaments held on horseback, blacksmithing and dance demonstrations, needlework and costume creation, and authentic music provided by wandering troubadours. The genesis and popularity of these two colourful festivals, where patrons are encouraged to come in costume, springs from

700-807: The Prussian province of Brandenburg . The next group arrived on 28 December 1838, on the Zebra with Captain Dirk Meinerts Hahn . Captain Hahn, assisted this group in acquiring land in the Adelaide Hills , where they settled Hahndorf . The last of the initial wave of immigrants arrived in January 1839, on the Catharina . This group settled predominantly at Glen Osmond . Sixty-three German passengers from Silesia, Prussia arrived March 31 on

735-575: The area has increased, particularly since realignment of the road and construction of the Heysen Tunnels on the South Eastern Freeway improved road access. Rising real estate prices reflect this. The tunnels, completed in 1999 are named after Sir Hans Heysen , an eminent local landscape painter whose home and studio, "The Cedars", has been maintained as a cultural site located near Hahndorf . To this day, Hahndorf itself supports

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770-572: The area. Wood was harvested by woodsmen in the hills and carted to the city for building new buildings from the earliest days of the colony of South Australia . The hills were then named "the Tiers", and the timber merchants "tiersmen". The first pub in the East End of Adelaide , built at 233-237 Grenfell Street , was known as the Woodman (later being rebuilt as The Producers Hotel). This explains

805-417: The city and other suburbs. With Adelaide being a linear city extending 90 kilometres (56 mi) north to south, the hills are within 20 kilometres (12 mi) of the majority of residents. The Adelaide Hills region is close enough to commute to the city, yet is the gateway to the country, so residents enjoy the best of both worlds – the country community life and the convenience of the city. Desirability of

840-658: The creation of the South Australian wine industry . One of the earliest wine makers, whose descendants still produce wine, was Carl August Sobels. Born in Dresden in 1802, he arrived in South Australia on the Hermann von Beckerath in 1847. At first he farmed at Macclesfield before moving to Tanunda where he produced table wines. After his death in 1863 the business was conducted by his son Ferdinand. By

875-415: The elderly, died. On 28 October 1841, 213 emigrants from Prussia arrived at Port Misery in South Australia. With them was Pastor Gotthard Fritzsche , who had been encouraged to emigrate because of the Prussian government's requirement for a Pastor to accompany the emigrants. The migrants settled at Lobethal , and Bethenien . In 1842, Langmeil was settled. Early German immigrants were instrumental in

910-522: The fire station was made into a small park which houses the sculpture. Several historic buildings are in the town. Mount Torrens and the surrounding areas were damaged during the 2019 Cudlee Creek bushfire . Mount Torrens is on the LinkSA coach route that runs from Mount Pleasant to Tea Tree Plaza . Between 1918 and 1963 the town had a station on the Mount Pleasant railway line ; subsequently

945-403: The height of a six-storey building) and open to the public, it serves to advertise an adjacent wooden toy factory and wildlife park. The National Motor Museum is at Birdwood . The National Motor Museum is the endpoint of the " Bay to Birdwood " event, in which up to 5,000 motor vehicles are driven by their owners from Glenelg past the city and through the hills to finish at the museum,

980-465: The largest non-British or Irish group of Europeans in Australia. On 23 April 1838, the barque Kinnear arrived at Sydney carrying six German wine growing families. Johann Justus, Friedrich Seckold, Johann Stein, Caspar Flick, Georg Gerhard and Johann Wenz, were the first German vinedressers in Australia. Hundreds of Germans followed their arrival in Australia. They worked in the vineyards belonging to John Macarthur 's son William Macarthur in what

1015-437: The line was dismantled. Adelaide Hills The Adelaide Hills region is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia . The largest town in the area, Mount Barker is one of Australia's fastest-growing towns. Before British colonisation of South Australia , the area was inhabited by the Peramangk people. The Adelaide Hills wine region comprises areas of

1050-565: The mid-1840s, the German community in South Australia had become large enough to warrant its own German-language newspaper. The first German language newspaper in Australia, Die Deutsche Post , was founded in Adelaide c. 6 January 1848. The barque San Francisco (a three masted barque of 450 tons (nm) built in Bjornberg, Sweden in 1846 and owned by J C Godeffroy & Sons) landed

1085-650: The relatively large numbers of British expatriates who reside in the Hills. Throughout the year there are folk music sessions and concerts held in various small towns like Mt Pleasant , Mylor and Balhannah - connected with this same cultural community. The Hills region includes the Cleland National Park , and within it the Cleland Wildlife Park with its free-roaming kangaroos , wallabies and emus . The park also has enclosed areas for dingos , koalas , native birds and snakes, and

Mount Torrens, South Australia - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-554: The ships Prince George , and Bengalee from the Prussian Province of Brandenburg . The group was composed of Lutheran immigrants who had left their homeland escaping what they considered to be religious persecution at the hands of Prussian King Frederick William III , mainly because of their rejection of Prussian state enforcement of a new prayer book for church services. They settled at Klemzig , 6 km (3.7 mi) from Adelaide , named after their home town in

1155-549: The strong German cultural connection seen in the number of Lutheran churches, Lutheran schools which often have German on the curriculum, and the number of older residents who still speak German. Some customs have grown, such as the Lobethal Christmas lights which began in the 1950s. Today, only one railway goes through the Adelaide Hills: the Adelaide to Melbourne railway line , which was first built in

1190-523: The town that stands today is virtually unchanged since that time. Mount Torrens has a sporting ground, hotel, farm supply store and general store. There are two schools – the state government Mount Torrens Primary School and the co-educational, interdenominational Mount Torrens Christian school – and Anglican, Lutheran and Uniting churches. In 2019, Mount Torrens became part of the Adelaide Hills Sculpture Trail. The former site of

1225-658: The very rare inland carpet python (greater Mount Barker region). Many walking trails, including a portion of the Heysen Trail and bike trails, including the start of the Mawson Trail abound within the Hills. The Heysen Trail itself extends from the tip of the Fleurieau Peninsula, through the Adelaide Hills and on up to the Flinders Ranges, three hours drive north of Adelaide. Birds found in

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