The Barossa Museum on Murray Street in Tanunda tells the story of the valley's German Lutheran settlers and their descendants. The collection includes original documents brought from Silesia and Prussia, farm equipment, household items, and photographs covering nearly two centuries of settlement. It's a small but carefully curated museum that gives real context to the names and landscape of the valley.
The 1838 emigrants who came to the Barossa were religious dissenters — followers of "Old Lutheranism" who refused to merge with the Reformed Church as ordered by the Prussian king. They came to South Australia explicitly for religious freedom, and their faith shaped the valley's character for generations. The museum explains this history clearly and without sentimentality.