Lobethal was settled in 1842 by Prussian immigrants, who migrated to South Australia with Pastor Gotthard Fritzsche aboard the sailing vessel Skjold, who initially went to Hahndorf but were alerted to good land in the upper Onkaparinga. German Lutheran settlers provided compatriot, Johann Friedrich Krummnow, who had arrived in South Australia three years earlier and was a naturalised English citizen, with funds for land purchases to establish the community. Krummnow wanted it based on his own principles of shared property and fervent prayer. The Lobethal settlers rejected Krummnow's vision and legally disputed his right to the land titles.