Oral History Interview with Gordon Kramm By Birgit Heilmann.

Gordon Kramm has lived all his life in Church Street, in Hahndorf. He was born on 8 September 1928. His father, Lawrence William Edger Kramm, born 1904, married Elizabeth Mary Gallasch, who was born in Verdun. Gordon’s great grandparents are the Herbig family -Johann Friedrich and Caroline- who lived in a big gum tree near Springton in the late 1850s.

In the interview Gordon talks about his childhood memories of everyday life in Hahndorf and his memories of going to primary school. Another topic is the family grocery store in Church Street which closed in 1994. He also talks about the hospital in the Hahndorf Academy and mentions the other uses of the Academy building and that Walter Wotzke saved the Acadmey from demolition. Furthermore, Gordon talks about the Hahndorf Town Band where he started to play the cornet at the age of seven. His father started the band in 1926.

Oral History Interview with Grant and Carol Paech By Birgit Heilmann.

Grant Paech was born on 5 December 1940 in Mount Barker. His father was Hermann Christian, born in Paechtown and he died in 1969. His mother was Leslie Alexandra Paech. The first Hahndorf generation of the Paechs – Johann Georg Paech with family – came on The Zebra to South Australia and developed Paechtown near Hahndorf, becoming naturalised in 1847.

Grant Paech married Carol (born in Adelaide 1944 of English descent) in 1966. They started the Beerenberg Farm in the early 1970s. In the interview Grant talks about childhood and teenage memories of life in Hahndorf. One focus of the interview is the dairy farm of Grant’s father. The other focus is the beginning and development of the Beerenberg strawberry farm. The Paechs also talk about changes in Hahndorf and their favourite places to go.

Oral History Interview with Harold Gallasch By Birgit Heilmann.

Harold Gallasch was born on 21 May 1943 in Adelaide and grew up in Glen Osmond.
His mother was Ida Martha Menzel. She was born in Hahndorf on 21 September 1914. Harold’s father Ernest Leonard Gallasch was born 26 February 1905 in Grunthal. The married couple moved to Glen Osmond.

Harold’s great great grandparents Johann Joseph and Veronika, together with children came to South Australia on The Zebra. Joseph became a farmer and first settled in Hahndorf, later in Grunthal. He became naturalised in 1841.

The interview with Harold is about his childhood memories of daily life in Hahndorf. He often visited his grandparents in Hahndorf. Another topic is the development of the tourism market in Hahndorf. Returning from Papa New Guinea in the early 1970s, Harold started a tourist business in Hahndorf and helped to establish the Hahndorf Chamber of Commerce and Tourism. In addition, he speaks about saving the Hahndorf Academy from being demolished and about its change of ownership in the 1980s. Being involved in community life he also speaks about the Hahndorf Liedertafel and other traditions in the town.

‘Never had time’: An oral history of a working childhood By Susan Marsden.
This article was published originally by the Constitutional Museum (History Trust of South Australia) in Come out (Adelaide, 1983), and the author thanks History SA for permission to reproduce it.