German schools in South Australia


During World War I, Australia experienced strong anti-German sentiment. South Australia had a substantial diaspora of German-speaking people derived from migrants from Germany and Poland during the 19th century. One of the consequences of the sentiment was that many German-sounding placenames were changed. Another consequence was that many Lutheran church schools which taught the children in German were encouraged and eventually forced to close or be taken over by the state.
The Colony of South Australia had been established in 1836. The first groups of German emigrants arrived in 1838, encouraged by the founders of the colony. They were escaping religious persecution in Prussia, and settling to establish a new life where they were free to practice their religion. The situation in Germany changed after 1840 but hard-working German settlers continued to be encouraged to migrate. The first German-language newspaper in South Australia was published from 1847. Many of these settlers took the Oath of Allegiance and became naturalised citizens so that they could buy land. German immigrant farmers and their descendants spread across the expanding colony, and others took up influential positions in Adelaide as well.
In June 1917, 49 schools received notices that they would be taken over by the Minister of Education with effect from 1 July that year. The German teachers were to be replaced by English teachers, if the school could not be closed completely and have the children sent to a nearby school. The action to close the schools was a consequence of the new Education Act 1915 passed by the South Australian Parliament late in 1915. Section 53 of the act required that at least 4 hours of teaching each school day be in English, and required head teachers to submit a monthly statutory declaration that this had been the case over the preceding month. The legislation specifically identified German as not being English.

Schools closed

Some schools had voluntarily closed after the legislation was passed. The 49 schools that received notices to close from 1 July 1917 were at:
schoolnumber of students
Martin Luther, Flinders Street, Adelaide47
Australia Plains38
Appila-Yarrowie83
Bethany60
Bethel17
Blumberg57
Bower43
Crystal Brook West10
Carlsruhe, Waterloo44
Dalkey22
St. John's, Dutton34
Eden Valley38
Emmaus26
Emu Downs20
St. John's, Eudunda63
Ebenezer, Stockwell85
Geranium Plains19
Hahndorf48
Trinity, Kapunda37
St. Paul's, Kilkerran30
St. John's, Kilkerran20
Light's Pass55
Lobethal64
Lyndoch25
Malvern, Cheltenham St55
Mannum26
Moculta94
Monarto9
Mount Torrens, Springhead28
Murray Bridge25
Nain44
St. John's, Neale's Flat13
St. Paul's, Neale's Flat15
Neukirch19
New Residence30
North Rhine34
Nott's Well8
Palmer18
Peter's Hill27.
Point Pass28
Rhine Villa16
Rosenthal27
St. Martini, Springton35
Sedan40
Tanunda63
Lower Light87
Robertstown14
St Kitts, near Truro19
Steinfeld, Hundred of Anna.

In addition, the Koonibba Aborigines mission station, west of Ceduna, was not affected at that time.