During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, many German or German-sounding place names in Australia were changed due to

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...

. The presence of German-derived place names was seen as an affront to the

war effort War effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and civilian—towards the support of a military force, particular during a state of war. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...

at the time. The names were often changed by being

anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

(such as

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

), or by being given new names of Aboriginal origin (Kobandilla, Karawirra) or in commemoration of notable soldiers ( Kitchener and Holbrook) or World War I battlefields (

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

The Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

New South Wales

Queensland

South Australia

The South Australian ''Nomenclature Act 1917'' authorised the compilation and gazetting of a list of place-names contained in a report of the previous October prepared by a parliamentary "nomenclature committee", and authorised the Governor of South Australia, by proclamation, to "alter any place-name which he deems to be of enemy origin to some other name specified in the proclamation".''Nomenclature Act 1917 (SA)'

/ref> The table below includes the 69 changes gazetted on 10 January 1918. The '' Nomenclature Act 1935'' restored the former names of the towns of Hahndorf and

Lobethal Lobethal is a town in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council local government area, and is nestled on the banks of a creek between the hills and up the sides of the valley. It was once the centre ...

, and the

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

suburb of Klemzig. About 20 other names were reverted in the 1970s and 1980s; some of them were assigned to larger localities rather than reverting to the original place name, as also shown in the table.

Tasmania

Victoria

Western Australia

References

External links

Adelaide Co-operative History – German Place NamesAustralian Bureau of Statistics – Changing of German Place Names in AustraliaVictorian counties map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian place names changed from German names

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Place names changed from German names Place names changed from German names Place names changed from German names Lists of cities by toponymy Anti-German sentiment German-Australian culture Place names changed from German names City name changes