Light Pass

About Light Pass

Light Pass is a small, friendly village, nestled amongst farmland and vineyards. It was established around 1845 by German settlers, many of whom were peasant farmers, but there were also highly skilled craftsmen and educated men. They purchased or leased land from the English landlord George Fife Angas, who established the South Australian Company and had the region surveyed to identify the best farming land.

The village was named in honour of Colonel William Light, who passed through the area in 1839 while looking for a pass through the Barossa Ranges to the Murray River.

The settlers were hard-working and soon established farms with a variety of crops, vines and animals. Faith and education were important to them, and a Lutheran church and school were quickly built. Having left their native land with the desire of being able to practice their faith as they wished, any differences of faith were hard to reconcile. By 1860 the church had split into two factions, and a second church was built across the road. On Sunday mornings the bells of the two churches still ring loud and clear as a call to service for the local Lutherans.