Media: BOOK - paperback, 80 pages
Author: I. Harmstorf
Year: 1994
Other: 42 illustrations
Publisher: Historical Society of South Australia

Introduction

This is volume two of what the Council of the Historical Society of South Australia believes will be a long and successful series aimed at broadening the available sources for the study of South Australian history. Australian Studies has been designated a priority area by the Federal Government and it is important that the study of South Australian history and culture takes its rightful place in the broader Australian scheme.

The Historical Society of South Australia has as part of its constitution formal objectives which have led it since 1974 to pursue this very aim. They include: arousing interest in and promoting the study and discussion of South Australian and Australian history; promoting the collection, preservation and classification of source material of all kinds relating to South Australian and Australian history; publishing historical records and articles. The ‘Insights’ series seeks to fulfil all these objectives.

Apart from the federal push for a greater recognition of the importance of the study of Australian history, heritage and culture, there has been a growing awareness of its value at state level. The Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia has introduced an innovative Year 12 Australian History syllabus which includes a significant core unit on South Australia. This volume will considerably expand the resources available to students and teachers. The German contribution to the development of the state has been far reaching and over a prolonged period.

It is worth noting that in an era of multiculturalism the present volume has a relevance beyond the history classroom. German language students will also find it of considerable use since the SSABSA extended subject framework includes work on the German influence in Australia and on the customs and traditions of Germans in South Australia.

Further afield, there is a clear interest in the wider community in South Australian family and cultural history in general and their German component in particular. South Australia had the largest intake of German migration and the high percentage of people with German ancestors will find much of interest in the following papers. The state’s German heritage has become a significant aspect also of the push for cultural tourism and of the recognition of the value of items of material culture. Those involved in all these areas will also find this volume of considerable value.

Dr Ian Harmstorf is the state’s foremost authority on the German contribution to South Australia. The Council of the Historical Society of South Australia is indebted to him for his enthusiastic preparation of the second in the ‘Insights’ series.

Dr Robert Nicol President, Historical Society of South Australia

Contents
Introduction
When Torrens Island Was a Concentration Camp
Witchcraft!—And Visions of the Devil in Early South Australia
The Germans in South Australia, 1855
The Interests of the German Community in the 1890s
List of 69 Placenames of German Origin Changed by the Nomenclature Act of 1917
German Settlement In South Australia to 1914
Some Common Misconceptions About South Australia’s Germans
Folklore of the German People in South Australia
The German Experience in South Australia
The Germans: State’s First Nationalists ‘They Did More Than Give us Cakes and Carts’
True Germans are Patriotic South Australians South Australian Germans Before 1918
The Trouble With Patriotism The Issue of Loyalty: South Australian Germans 1838-1990
Australians or Aliens How Safe are the Democratic Rights of Australians of Non-British Descent?
A Trust Betrayed: South Australia’s Germans in World War I
South Australia’s Germans in World War II
Resource Material on South Australian Germans