German-Pennsylvanian Association
Encyclopedia
The German-Pennsylvanian Association is an organization founded 2003 in the Rheinhessen
area of Ober-Olm
in Germany
dedicated to cultural exchange and research involving the Pennsylvania Dutch language
and people
. The registered seat of the organization is in the Rhineland-Palatinate
capital of Mainz
.
n (United States
) residents of German descent and their main region of origin in Southwest Germany, to encourage the creation of joint initiatives and sister city partnerships, and to promote the study of Pennsylvania Dutch history, language, and culture. Many of the members are linguists
and historians or others from Germany or the United States who are interested in genealogy
and the Pennsylvania Dutch culture.
and an archive for Pennsylvania Dutch literature in Ober-Olm
. He served as president between 2003 and 2010. Since April 2010, Frank Kessler (Brussels) is the top chairperson of the association.
Rheinhessen
Rhenish Hesse refers to the part of the former Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt located west of the Rhine river and now part of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is a hilly countryside largely devoted to vineyards, therefore it is also called the "land of the thousand hills." Its larger towns include:...
area of Ober-Olm
Ober-Olm
Ober-Olm is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Neighbouring municipalities :...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
dedicated to cultural exchange and research involving the Pennsylvania Dutch language
Pennsylvania German language
The Pennsylvania German language is a variety of West Central German possibly spoken by more than 250,000 people in North America...
and people
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
. The registered seat of the organization is in the Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
capital of Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
.
Overview
The goals of the organization are to promote cultural exchange between PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
n (United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) residents of German descent and their main region of origin in Southwest Germany, to encourage the creation of joint initiatives and sister city partnerships, and to promote the study of Pennsylvania Dutch history, language, and culture. Many of the members are linguists
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and historians or others from Germany or the United States who are interested in genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
and the Pennsylvania Dutch culture.
Executive committee
The executive committee is composed of five members elected every three years. The first top chairperson was publishing editor Dr. Michael Werner who established the Pennsylvania German newspaper Hiwwe wie DriwweHiwwe wie Driwwe
Hiwwe wie Driwwe, which means "Over here as over there" , is the title of the only existing Pennsylvania German language newspaper. Since 1997 the publication is distributed twice a year. More than 100 Pennsylvania German authors have already contributed pieces of prose, poems and newspaper...
and an archive for Pennsylvania Dutch literature in Ober-Olm
Ober-Olm
Ober-Olm is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Neighbouring municipalities :...
. He served as president between 2003 and 2010. Since April 2010, Frank Kessler (Brussels) is the top chairperson of the association.