The pretty village of Hahndorf is small slice of 19th century Germany, tucked away in the Adelaide Hills. Just a 30-minute drive from Adelaide’s city centre, visiting Hahndorf is like briefly stepping back in time, and off the continent.

In July 2021, we were lucky enough to time our postponed South Australia trip in the 10 days between Melbourne’s two long lockdowns. At the time, we thought we’d just timed it perfectly for the end of lockdown, having no idea that we’d fly home into an even longer one! It was our first trip to South Australia, and we spent a few nights in the Adelaide Hills, between visiting Adelaide and the Barossa Valley.

Hahndorf is one of the major draw cards of the Adelaide Hills, alongside the region’s award-winning wineries. The main street, a section of Mount Barker Road, is lined with traditional stone architecture and German timber frame cottages, German pubs and bakeries, galleries and boutiques, and of course, like every self-respecting hinterland village, a fudge shop.

Hahndorf reminded me of Solvang, a quirky small town we visited in California on a road trip between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Like Solvang, Hahndorf has carefully preserved and marketed its northern European settler history, but with references to German rather than Danish heritage.

A very brief history of Hahndorf

The original inhabitants and traditional owners of the area are the Peramangk people, who named the area Burkatilla. They lived in the area for some 2400 years. Due to European invasion, there is little documented evidence of the Peramangk people after 1850.

In 1838, Lutheran immigrants settled in the area, fleeing religious persecution in their native Prussia (today part of Western Poland). These immigrants lived in a close knit, socially closed community, and didn’t participate in local government for more than 15 years after their arrival. St Michaels Lutheran Church in Hahndorf is the oldest Lutheran church in Australia with an active, worshipping congregation.

Hahndorf was re-named Ambleside in 1917, due to anti-German sentiment following the First World War. It didn’t revert to the name Hahndorf until 1935.

Hahndorf is a beautiful place. I’m glad we visited and I’d recommend it to anyone travelling in the Adelaide Hills. One of the uneasy contradictions of loving Australia is loving what is good and beautiful, while acknowledging a brutal history of invasion and colonisation. It’s important to acknowledge this injustice in any part of Australia, but I think it is particularly relevant in places where European colonisation and heritage are most actively celebrated.

Beerenberg Farm Shop

On our way into Hahndorf, our first stop was Beerenberg Farm. Established in 1839, Beerenberg Farm was founded & is still operated by the same family, who are today the sixth generation of family farmers. Beerenberg make beautiful jams, honey, mustard and chutneys, and offer strawberry picking at the farm from November-April. Since we visited in July, strawberry picking wasn’t on the cards, so we went on a little shopping spree in the farm store instead. I was expecting a small farm shop with a few nice jams – I could have spent hours in there! The team are generous and encouraging with their tastings, and there is so much to choose from. We bought a few large jars of honey and jam, and a handful of tiny tasting jars of more jams and mustards.

Hahndorf Inn

After walking up and down the central street of the village, we browsed the menus of the German pubs before settling on the Hahndorf Inn, which had the most German dishes on the menu. We indulged in a fortifying winter feast of pickles, pork knuckle and pie, with a shot of schnapps. Exposed timber beams and stonework, taxidermy deer mounted on the walls and a roaring fireplace made it easy to forget we were in Australia, and the 21st century.

Hahndorf Hills Winery

After lunch, we went to Hahndorf Hill Winery, which specialises in Austrian varietals. According to Australian’s pre-eminent wine critic James Halliday, Hahndorf Hill “writes the book on gruner veltliner.” Hahndorf Hill are pioneers in Australia for gruner and other Austrian grape varieties such as Blaufrankisch, Zweigelt and St Laurent. I really enjoyed trying several of these Austrian varietals for the first time. I’m familiar with riesling and gruner, but I hadn’t tried Austrian reds, like Blaufrankisch, before.

The tasting room overlooks the vineyards, with floor-to-ceiling windows making the most of the view. Like every South Australian tasting room we visited, the staff were warm, knowledgeable and generous.

Have you visited Hahndorf or anywhere like it? Share your stories in the comments.

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