Nitschke Family

The history of Moorooroo Park Vineyards stems back to 1838 when Samuel Johann Nitschke, with wife Elizabeth and their 6 children, Sailed over from Hamburg on the ship "The Zebra".

After stepping off "The Zebra" at Holdfast Bay, the Nitschke family moved to the Happy Valley region, before finally settling down at Moorooroo Park in 1846. The family got straight to work, and after clearing part of the land began to sow wheat.

In the meantime Samuel's eldest daughter, Johanne Eleanore, had caught the eye of Johann Gramp, a fellow German migrant who had sailed over from Hamburg in 1837 on "The Solway" and settled on the opposite side of Jacobs Creek. They married shortly after, and together planted the first commercial vineyard in the Barossa Valley.

The Nitschke family followed suit shortly thereafter, planting a vineyard of there own, as well as continuing their wheat production, under the Label of Moorooroo Park.

Samuel Nitschke passed away in 1874 at the age of 80, however his family continued to call Moorooroo Park home until the mid 1900's.