Hills History — 1914: War Hysteria and Name Changes

There was mass hysteria during the First World War (1914-1918). Throughout Australia, any town that may have had a foreign or German name was changed. Most places in the Barossa Valley were given English names. Blumberg became Birdwood, Lobethal became Tweedvale, Hahndorf became Ambleside, and German Town became Holbrook.

It was a sad period where many people who had taken the Oath of Allegiance to Australia were persecuted. All Lutheran Church schools were closed in 1917 by an act of Parliament, though Jindera St John’s Lutheran school was somehow overlooked.

Bob Marshall, Local History