Herberge Christi Lutheran Church

Bethany was the Barossa's first German settlement, founded in 1842 when twenty-eight Lutheran families took up land along the creek. Their first church was a humble thing of mud walls and thatch; the present Herberge Christi - the name means "shelter of Christ" - replaced it and was dedicated on 24 June 1883, with a new bell brought out from Germany ringing from its tower on opening day.

That bell became part of village life. It was traditionally rung at the end of the working day to call labourers home from the surrounding vineyards and fields - a practical, musical timekeeper for a community that lived by the seasons. The church still presides over Bethany's single lane of stone cottages and long hufendorf garden allotments.

It is an easy and rewarding stop: park near Bethany Reserve, wander the lane past the cottages, and read the early gravestones. For the full story of the village's founding families, see our story on Bethany, the Barossa's first village.