Lutheran Archives

Our book maven Enid has been busy adding more books (and more to come!) to our online book store. Family histories, local histories, congregation histories, general histories, fiction and more.

Check the newest stock here: https://lutheran-archives-lcanz.square.site/s/shop?page=1&limit=180&sort_by=created_date&sort_order=desc&location_id=L6D8DK11RRT3M

Or Check bbok categories here: https://lutheran-archives-lcanz.square.site/shop/books/FQKPX63TYMNEACCBHZSWS3I4?page=1&limit=180&sort_by=created_date&sort_order=desc&location_id=L6D8DK11RRT3M

We couldn't operate without our Friends (Friends of Lutheran Archives ANZ, Friends of Lutheran Archives Queensland - FOLAQ).

Our Friends groups volunteer their time and energy to promote the mission of Lutheran Archives, raise funds, undertake research from the collection and present research via public meetings (the next SA one is on tomorrow!)

If you would like to be our Friend, please contact [email protected] for more information.

If you would like to donate (tax-deductible gift) to Lutheran Archives, either once off or regularly, please use this link: https://square.link/u/5KF0pnt2

Lutheran Archives Fund - Donation - Lutheran Archives Your donation helps the ongoing work of Lutheran Archives in collecting, preserving and making accessible the records of Lutheranism in Australia and New Zealand.

We couldn't operate without our volunteers.

Thank you to all those who turn our every week to make our collection more accessible, and to all those over the past 100 years who have done the same.

Maybe we will some of these artists’ works in our collection in another 100 years.

LLL Australia in conjunction with the Lutheran Church of Australia Qld District are excited to share a record 77 submissions across all age categories to the 2026 LLL Synod Art Competition.

Entrants ranged in age from just 4 years old to an amazing 96 years of age. They were asked to consider the Synod theme ‘Open Door to Spiritual Renewal: Reborn in Water, Renewed by the Spirit’ (based on Titus 3:5), and display their interpretation of the theme in their artwork.

Artwork submissions will be judged by a small panel of qualified art educators from the Lutheran Education school community and the LCAQD prior to the Synod, with winners in each category receiving a cash prize.

Winning artworks will be displayed at the 2026 LCAQD Convention of the Synod, and then at Lutheran Church House for 12 months.

You can find a gallery of entries here: https://qld.lca.org.au/2026/05/07/synod-art-competition-receives-a-record-number-of-entries/

Find out more about LLL Australia here: lll.org.au

Elsie Steicke and her husband Henry owned and ran the popular ‘Steicke’s Café’ on Tanunda's main street during the 1930's and 1940's. The cafe offered pies, pasties and freshly made sandwiches all made daily by Henry, but they also served a three course sit-down hot lunch, prepared by Elsie every day in a kitchen that had no hot water and no electricity.

Undaunted by the working conditions, Elsie also ran a catering service for weddings and parties where tiered and elaborately decorated celebration cakes were her specialty. Thick fondant icing with intricate piping work demanded real mastery, but she had to bake the cakes first using an old family recipe for fruit cake then cook them in a wood oven - notorious for their unreliable temperature control. Despite her lack of professional training she was a skilled hospitality chef, without question.

Steicke's cafe, on the corner of Murray and Bushman streets in Tanunda, closed in the 1940's but the building continues its legacy as a popular contemporary restaurant.

Elsie was a contributor to The Barossa Cookery Book, and her story is included in several of the library's History Festival events. Her biography features in the new publication Rolling Up Their Sleeves, which along with The Barossa Cookery Book, are available in our local history and general borrowing collections.

For more information about our local History Festival events visit: https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/
For more local history information visit the library, or contact us on:
[email protected]

We suddenly realised that there were quite a few titles in our second had bookshop related to military and war, including the social effects of war on civilian populations, so we decided to created a category of Military History on our bookshop.

Enjoy!

https://lutheran-archives-lcanz.square.site/shop/military-history/ZCI3QMC7MX44K32KTCKZCTRR?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=asc

The SA Australiana Study Group out did itself at their 125th meeting in April. Typically there are one or two German related objects presented for discussion, but this time there was:
* a lodge presentation medal made by Carl Firnhaber
* a pair of carved earrings made by Henry Steiner
* a folk art Murray Cod (which by a long stretch was the name of the Australian rowing team in the 1920s and which included members of German descent)
* a photograph of Carl Ewald Graetz
* an album of carte de visite photographs belonging to Mathilde Steicke
* some works of poetry by Ian Tilbrook who was a member of the literary Jindyworobak Club, of which Colin Thiele was also a member
* an Australian Geographical Walkabout magazine with a story about the bells made by August Menneke (and the fact tat the definitive Australian bell collectors' text is written by Paul and Eleanor Knie)
* a lithograph of “Goldsmiths Work From Australia” from 1862 which incudes work by JM Wendt

and from their "Seen in about Adelaide" section, a photo of Observatory House on Flinders st which housed the business of Otto Boettger and his successor GCW Kohler, opitcal instrument makers.

Whew!