German born August Heinicke, more commonly known as Hermann (1863–1949), arrived in South Australia in 1890. Known as Adelaide’s premier violinist he taught at the Elder Conservatorium of Music and was also conductor of a number of orchestras and the Adelaide Liedertafel.
In September 1914, university students, who felt that Heinicke 'had attempted to affront British sentiment at a public concert', assaulted him. Heinicke accepted their apology and declined to have them punished. He resigned from the Conservatorium in 1916 and the family left their grand Medindie home for a Plympton poultry farm. Heinicke taught privately until 1933.
More information about the incident can be read at: Szuster, Julja I. The injustice of the 1914 assault on Hermann Heinicke in the Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia, No. 43, 2015: 99-110
