A Deitschy Day in PA
The deepest roots of our Hagenbuch family tree stretch into Switzerland and Germany. However, for those Hagenbuchs living in the United States, it is an oversimplification to refer to ourselves only as Swiss-German. After...
Category: Culture
Deitsch Foods: Turnip Casserole with Semmede
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Hagenbuch family was part of Pennsylvania’s Deitsch culture. Food was important to the Deitsch. So, with this in mind, my wife Sara and I set about to...
Quilting: A Family Tradition
Many families have traditions of creating crafts, often times American folk crafts, that have been handed down from generation to generation. Joanne (Hagenbuch) Griffith is an example of this, as she is a quilter....
Powwowing: A Pennsylvania Deitsch Tradition
Those who are not from a Deitsch background rarely understand the term powwowing as it is used among Pennsylvanians. When confronted with the term, most people will quip “Sure, I’ve seen American Indian dancers”,...
A Trip Across America: Many Lands, Many Peoples
The United States is a country of varied landscapes populated by many different peoples. The first article in this series explored how migration has been an important part of the American experience, including that...
Shrove Tuesday, Fastnacht Day
Although this day was celebrated last week, the following article will give some insight into this very Pennsylvania Deitsch tradition. This article appeared in the March, 1984 Beech Grove newsletter. Literally translated from the German,...
Old Time Christmas in a Country Home
This story was shared in the December, 1983 issue of the “Beech Grove.” It first appeared in the “Lancaster County Guardian” in January, 1871 and was included with other folk culture stories by Alfred...
1789 Essay on the Pennsylvania Deitsch, Part 3
In the first and second parts of the essay, An Account of the Manners of the German Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Rush proposed a list of the key characteristics of Pennsylvania’s Deitsch citizens. He...
1789 Essay on the Pennsylvania Deitsch, Part 2
In the first part of the essay, An Account of the Manners of the German Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Rush listed some of the key characteristics of Pennsylvania’s Deitsch residents. These included thriftiness, respect...
1789 Essay on the Pennsylvania Deitsch, Part 1
The Hagenbuch family arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1737 and were part of one of the earliest waves of German immigrants to the colony. By the late 18th century, Pennsylvania’s German or “Deitsch” residents...
