A Haunting at the Hahndorf Academy

 

Hahndorf Academy - 2021 Allen Tiller

 The Hahndorf Academy was established in 1857 by Traugott Wilhelm (TW) Boehm whose nickname was ‘Chibby’. Two storey building was erected in 1871 and a belltower in 1875.^[1] The Hahndorf Academy, according to Boehm was to provide 'a sound and good English and German education, to enable its pupils to enter the learned professions or to prepare for commercial life'. In 1863, the academy became a boarding school.

 In 1877, Boehm sold the school to the Lutheran Church for 700 pounds. It became a Lutheran College and seminary. The property was repurchased by Boehm in 1883 and resold in 1886 to Douglas Byard.
  Byard reopened it as Hahndorf College. Under Byard an Oxford Master of Arts and Anglican lay preacher, the College gained a solid reputation for scholastic excellence.
When Education Department high schools were introduced in 1916, the building was sold. The property was next owned by H. Hirthe and became a nursing home and hospital between 1917 and 1937.[2] During World War Two, the building housed the local council offices and local military headquarters.
 For a short while, it was a betting shop and a dentist. In 1939 the property was owned by Mr H. Haebich, who converted the Academy into flats. He died in 1959, with renovations unfinished, and the property falling into a state of general disrepair.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the Mt Barker Council declared the building unsafe, meaning it could be demolished if bought at auction. Several petrol companies became interested as the building was in a prime location. Karlis Lidums bought the property in 1961. The Hahndorf Academy Museum Trust was established the same year under Dr Derek van Abbe, with Miss Josephine Heysen (Sir Hans Heysen's granddaughter) as secretary. The aim was to restore the building. In the same year, Sir Hans Heysen donated paintings to the Academy.
 In 1963, the Trust took over the building from the Lidums. In 1966, the building was sold to Elva and Walter Wotzke. The Wotzke's restored the property. They opened the rejuvenated building as an art gallery in 1967 on the 90th birthday of Sir Hans Heysen.

In 1988 the building was bought by the Hahndorf Academy Foundation Incorporated, and in 1998 by the District Council of Mount Barker.[3]

 Ghosts

One of the best-known ghost stories from the Academy is that of the Woman in White. She is alleged to appear at the top of the staircase. She is described as an elegant spirit who appears on the upper level and glides back and forth from the hall to the former balcony. She wears a dress that hides her feet, she wears her hair up and sometimes wears a hat.

Another ghost is that of a young boy, who runs up and down the steps on the south side of the old academy. He is thought to be between 10 and 12 years of age. A witness described him as a blond boy who wore hobnailed boots, home woven pants, and a smooth white shirt. She claimed the boy laughed a lot and was smiling as he ran up and down the steps on the southern side of the academy.

A third ghost is reported as an unpleasant old man who sits at the bottom of the stairs leading to the former Heysen gallery. He is known to terrify visitors as well as frighten local animals. A witness described him as dirty grey in colour. Another spirit was witnessed by Julie Messenger. This spirit was described as a forlorn-looking woman who was looking out a top floor window.

In an article titled “Adelaide Hills Ghost Stories” by Madison White, Academy Director Kate Wake states that she has had her own ghostly experiences in the Academy. “I believe that we do have ghosts and I believe that I've heard them,”. Kate went onto say that heard some very heavy breathing in the downstairs gallery.[4]

© 2021 Allen Tiller.

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[1] Suzanne Edgar, 'Boehm, Traugott Wilhelm (1836–1917)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/boehm-traugott-wilhelm-5280/text8903.

[2] Gemma Nisbet, Hahndorf’s past proud heritage, Yahoo! News, (5 May 2014), https://au.news.yahoo.com/hahndorfs-past-a-proud-heritage-23118763.html.

[3] Hahndorf Academy, History, (2021), http://hahndorfacademy.org.au/history.

[4] Madison White, Adelaide Hills Ghost Stories, (2015), https://madisonwhiteportfolio.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/adelaide-hills-ghost-stories.pdf.