Pastor Kavel was determined to help his loyal parishioners emigrate from Brandenburg, Posen and Silesia to escape religious persecution by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia.

While in Hamburg, Kavel heard of the wealthy philanthropist, George Fife Angas, who was Chairman of the South Australian Company and likely to assist the Old Lutherans with their migration plans.

Some of the emigrant ships included: In March 1837 Colonel William Light completed surveying Kangaroo Island, Encounter Bay, Port Lincoln and the Adelaide Plains.

Due to the scarcity of work, the lack of English as their preferred language, and the prejudice from the already established British farmers, many Old Lutherans found settlement increasingly hard.

In 1838, Klemzig was founded by these emigrants after George Fife Angas offered a section of land bordering the Torrens River, a few kilometres to the north-east of Adelaide.

During World War II, the residents of Klemzig petitioned the Government of South Australia on a number of occasions to have the name Gaza re-instated but these requests were denied.