The tiny settlement of Bethany was the first German village in the valley - and it still looks the part.
Where it started
In 1842, a group of Silesian-German families fleeing religious persecution laid out the village of Bethany in the hills above what would become Tanunda. They built it in the manner of home: a single long street, narrow garden strips called Hufendorf allotments running back from each cottage, and a church on the hill watching over all of it.
Nearly two centuries later, Bethany is still recognisably that village. The cottages stand, the gardens still run in their old strips, and the hilltop church still rings.
A walk through time
It takes only a few minutes to drive the length of Bethany, but it rewards a slower pass on foot. The settlers' stonework, the old cemetery and the long views down to the valley floor tell the story of a community that built faith and farming into the land in equal measure.
The vines above
Above the village, Bethany Wines carries the Schrapel family's grape-growing line back to those founding decades. Stand on its deck, look down over the rooftops, and you are looking at where the entire Barossa wine country began.
