Verdun is a small town in the Adelaide Hills

Adelaide Hills

The Adelaide Hills are part of the Mount Lofty Ranges, east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is unofficially centred on the largest town in the area, Mount Barker, which has a population of around 29,000 and is also one of Australia's fastest growing towns.- History :The...

, Australia, on the road from Hahndorf

Hahndorf, South Australia

Hahndorf is a small town about 30 minutes drive out of Adelaide, South Australia along the South Eastern Freeway . The town was settled by Lutheran migrants largely from in and around a small village then named "Kay" in Prussia, many of whom were aboard the Zebra...

 to Balhannah

Balhannah, South Australia

Balhannah is a town in the Adelaide Hills about 30 km southeast of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It was established in 1839 as a farming community. The fruit cold store built in 1914 was one of the first in Australia and is still in use. It is on the main interstate railway between...

.

Verdun is approximately 4 km from Hahndorf and 5 km from Bridgewater

Bridgewater, South Australia

Bridgewater is a town in the Adelaide Hills, southeast of Adelaide in South Australia.It is the former end of the Adelaide-Bridgewater railway line; this route was closed in 1987...

. There is one school, one pub and a general store.

Verdun originally had the German name Grunthal, after being named by the Prussian settlers who established the town. The town was renamed in 1917 after one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War, the Battle of Verdun

Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February – 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France...

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See also

• Australian place names changed from German names
  Australian place names changed from German names
  During World War I, many German-sounding place names in Australia were changed because of Anti-German sentiment. The new names were often Anglicized , given Aboriginal names , names of famous people , or battlefields . This was done through an Act of Parliament, as well as by petition...