Greetings from Heidelberg!

Posted on Saturday, 18th November 2023 by Janine Rizzetti

Many visitors to our museum ask “Why is Heidelberg called Heidelberg?”. It’s not like the South Australian townships named by German immigrant communities (eg Hahndorf) but instead is connected with a perceived similarity of landscape. Both the German Heidelberg and ours have a river, river flats, landscape that falls from higher hills, and a pleasantly treed environment. The story goes that land entrepreneur Continental Brown as part of his real-estate patter likened the land between Alphington and Heidelberg as being just like old Heidelberg in Germany. A true story? Who knows…

In any case, the name Heidelberg stands, despite some people agitating for change during World War I. The former City of Heidelberg in Victoria (now Banyule) established a sister city arrangement with Heidelberg in Germany in the 1980s.

Many people associated with our Heidelberg make a pilgrimage to the German city when touring Europe, or when visiting for professional exchanges. This pot lid, printed with ’Greetings from Heidelberg was given to former member of Heidelberg Historical Society, the late Heather Low, when visiting Heidelberg in Germany during the 1980s in return for a gift from our society.

Collectors are attracted to pot lids. You can read more about collecting pot lids in this article from Antiques Trade Gazette or this article from World Collectors Pot Lids- one of the earliest forms of visual advertising