Pennsylvania German Library & Archives Research
The Heritage Center library and archives is a research center that is open to the public both by appointment and walk-in visits. Its vast collections of primary and secondary sources offer unique opportunities for researching a variety of subjects including Schwenkfelder and Silesian history, local history, genealogy as well as Pennsylvania German history and culture. The Heritage Center welcomes all researchers from children working on school reports to professional scholars working on major research projects.
If you have something that you think would add to the stories we tell, please contact our archivist
hunt@schwenkfelder.org.
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Plan Your Research With Us
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Research Your Family's History
Resource Highlight
How We Ate, by Alan Keyser
Quick Link to updated index for How We Ate, 1st edition, by Alan Keyser (Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center 2024). This index is more comprehensive than that printed in the 1st edition, taking you to more topics and all recipes.
What the Archives Hold
The library's collections span several centuries of Pennsylvania German and Schwenkfelder history, with particular depth in materials that have never been digitized or indexed for national platforms. Researchers regularly find records here that exist nowhere else in a single accessible location.
Holdings include:
- Church records from Pennsylvania German congregations across Montgomery, Berks, Lehigh, and Bucks counties
- Schwenkfelder-specific primary sources, including manuscript materials, correspondence, and religious documents
- Family histories and genealogical records compiled across generations of Schwenkfelder descendants
- Photographs and visual documentation of regional communities and family groups
- Manuscripts in explaining Fraktur— illuminated Pennsylvania German manuscripts with genealogical and cultural significance
- Published and unpublished local and regional histories
- Maps, land records, and property documents tied to southeastern Pennsylvania families
How the Library and Museum Work Together
The museum and the library serve different purposes, and both are worth your time. The museum's galleries offer an interpretive experience — exhibitions that place objects, stories, and community history in context for visitors of all backgrounds.
The library is a working research environment. It exists for people who need to go deeper: to examine primary sources firsthand, cross-reference family names against original records, and work through materials that no exhibit panel can fully convey. Many visitors move between both spaces in a single visit, starting with the galleries to build context and then moving into the library to pursue specific research questions.
Who Can Access the Archives
No academic credentials are required to use the library. The archives are open to the public, and staff are available to assist researchers at every level — whether you're beginning a family history project or returning with a focused research question you've been working on for years.
Archival research visits are appointment-based, which allows staff to prepare relevant materials in advance and make your time here as productive as possible. General library access is available during regular open hours. If you're traveling from out of the area and want to confirm whether your specific family names or topics are represented in the holdings before making the trip, contact us in advance — we'll tell you what we have.
Why Researchers Come Here from Across the Country
The library's holdings are internationally recognized among scholars of Pennsylvania German history and Schwenkfelder studies. Researchers travel from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, the Southeast, and beyond to access materials concentrated here that cannot be found together anywhere else.
Several factors distinguish this collection from what general genealogy platforms offer:
- Schwenkfelder congregation records and community documents not available through national databases
- Pennsylvania German primary source archives with depth in the four-county southeastern Pennsylvania region
- Staff expertise in Pennsylvania German genealogy, church records, and Schwenkfelder family lines
- A formal partnership with the Society of the Descendants of the Schwenkfeldian Exiles, which deepens both the collections and the institutional knowledge available to researchers
Plan Your Research Visit
Do I need to be a member or have academic credentials to use the library?
No credentials or membership are required. The library is open to any researcher with an interest in Pennsylvania German history, Schwenkfelder genealogy, or regional history. Staff are available to assist visitors at every level of experience.
What makes the Schwenkfelder Library different from searching Ancestry or FamilySearch?
The library holds Schwenkfelder-specific and Pennsylvania German primary source materials. Family Search has digitized and indexed many of our resources, though not all, and in person you can see the record in context with other historical materials. Church records, manuscript collections, family histories, and Fraktur documents can be found here, and represent research pathways that simply cannot be unlocked simply by searching major databases.
Do I need an appointment to visit the library?
General library access is available during regular open hours,Tuesday through Friday. Appointments are necessary for access during weekends.
Archival research visits are appointment-based so staff can prepare relevant materials ahead of your arrival. If you're traveling a distance, we recommend contacting us in advance to confirm that materials relevant to your research are in the collection.
Can library staff help me with my Pennsylvania German genealogy research?
Yes. Staff have specialized expertise in Pennsylvania German genealogy, Schwenkfelder family lines, and historical archives in Montgomery County, PA and the surrounding region. They can help you identify relevant records, navigate the collections, and point you toward materials you might not find on your own.
What types of records are most useful for tracing Pennsylvania German ancestry?
Church records are often the most critical primary source for Pennsylvania German families, particularly for the period before civil registration. The library holds congregation records from across the four-county southeastern Pennsylvania region, alongside family histories, land records, photographs, and Schwenkfelder manuscript materials that together can fill gaps left by standard genealogical databases.