Located at the corner of Main Street and Balhannah Road, the Hahndorf Academy has had a varied and volatile history. Few buildings in Australia can lay claim to such controversy from inception up until the current time. It has been stated that the Hahndorf Academy was the focal point that created the tourist industry that currently prevails in Hahndorf.
The publication, 'A College in the Wattles', by Reg Butler, is an excellent detailed and comprehensive history of the Academy. Launched during the 150th anniversary of Hahndorf's establishment, this book sets the Academy in an Australian context and provides short biographies of old scholars and teachers.
An article of interest concerning the Hahndorf Academy is that published in the 'Walkabout' magazine in 1964 by Prof. RWV Elliott.
In 1857 Traugott Wilhelm Boehm opened the Hahndorf Academy to provide 'a sound and good English and German education, in order to enable its pupils to enter the learned professions or to prepare for commercial life'. It did not offer religious instruction, and gained an enviable reputation for higher learning. The Academy became a boarding school in 1863.
Hahndorf Academy from Main Street (2002)The stone building was constructed in several sections. It first opened as a single storey structure, but in 1871 the front two-storey section was added. A government grant in 1872 enabled another portion of the building, with the corner tower, to be added.
In 1877 Boehm sold the school to the Lutheran Church for £700, and it became a Lutheran college and seminary. Boehm repurchased it in 1883, but again sold in 1886 – this time to an Englishman, DJ Byard, who changed its name to Hahndorf College, but continued the institution's excellent academic tradition. Byard was educated at Eton and had a great love of music. This early commitment to the arts and education attracted students from across Australia. In total more than 700 students passed through the Hahndorf Academy/College, and included many prominent political, commercial, financial and pastoral families. The Elder Conservatorium of Music at the Adelaide University was founded by former Academy students.
When Education Department high schools were introduced in 1916, the building was sold and ran as a hospital and nursing home from 1917-1937. From then on it served as council offices, betting shop, dentists' rooms, army headquarters, flats and a recreation centre.
In 1966 it was restored by new owners, Mr & Mrs Walter Wotzke, who opened the building as a gallery in 1967 – on the 90th birthday of Sir Hans Heysen.
In 1988 the building was purchased by the Hahndorf Academy Foundation Incorporated, and subsequently in 1998 was purchased by the District Council of Mount Barker who continue to maintain it. Today the Hahndorf Academy is one of the largest regional art galleries in South Australia. It also contains a German Migration Museum and a large retail outlet, and is one of Hahndorf's main cultural tourist attractions.
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