Preview
![image preview](https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/ursinus_fraktur/1090/preview.jpg)
Accession Number
PAG1998.234
Date Range
1823-1827
Description
Printed Taufschein with angels in profile at sides, pair of birds on vine in bottom corners, angel reclining on cloud at top center.
Dimensions in Inches
15 5/8 x 12 3/4
Dimensions in Centimeters
40 x 32
Materials
Watercolor and ink on paper
Technique
Drawn, Hand colored, Hand lettered
Print Shop Location
Reading, Pennsylvania
Associated Places
Douglass Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Category
Birth and baptismal certificate (Geburts-und-Taufschein)
Motifs
angels, birds, clouds, doves, Celtic knots
Associated Names
Leonhard Neidig, Margareth Moser, Sarah, Jacob Miller
Rights
Please contact the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College for permissions which fall outside of educational fair use.
Source
Ursinus College Library Special Collections and the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art
Provenance
Pennsylvania Folklife Society
Script/Text
Fraktur lettering, German script
Language
German
Transcription
Wann wir kaum geboren werden,/Ist, vom ersten Lebenstritt,/Bis zum kühlen Grab der Erden,/Nur ein kurzgemeß’ner Schritt./Ach! mit jedem Augenblick/Gehet uns’re Kraft zurück./Und wir sind mit jedem Jahre,/Allzureif zur Todtenbahre.
Und wer weiß, in welcher Stunde/Uns die lezte Stimme weckt,/Denn Gott hat’s mit seinem Munde/Keinem Menschen noch entdeckt./Wer sein Haus nun wohl bestellt,/Geht mit Freuden aus der Welt;/Da die Sicherheit hingegen,/Ewig’s Sterben kann erregen.
Geburts=und Tauf=Schein./Diesen beyden Ehegatten, als:/Leonhard Neidig und seiner ehelichen/Hausfrau Margareth geborne Moserin/ist eine Tochter zur Welt geboren, den 6ten Tag/September im Jahr unsers Herrn, 1809 Diese/Tochter ist geboren in Douglas Taunschip/in Bercks Caunty, im Staat Penn,a/in Nord=America; und erhielt durch die Heil. Taufe den Namen/Sarah den 6ten Tag December im Jahr 1809 von dem Ehrw. Hrn. Jacob Miller/Die Tauf=Zeugen waren: Ihre eltern selbst
Ich bin Getauft ich steh’ im Bunde,/Durch meine Tauf mit meinem Gott!/So sprech’ ich stets mit frohem Munde,/In Kreuz, in Trübsal, Angst und Noth,/Ich bin getauft, des freu’ ich mich,/Die Freude bleibt mir ewiglich.
Ich bin getauft, ob ich gleich sterbe,/Was schadet mir das kühle Grab?/Ich weiß mein Vaterland und Erbe,/Das ich bey Gott im Himmel hab’,/Nach meinem Tod ist mir bereit,/Des Himmels Freud und Feyerkleid.
Ich bin getauft in deinem Namen,/Gott Vater, Sohn und heiliger Geist!/Ich bin gezählt zu deinem Saamen,/Zum Volk, das Dir geheiligt heißt./O! welch ein Glück ward dadurch mein!/Herr, laß mich deßen würdig seyn!
Translation
Reading,/Gedruckt und zu haben bey/Johann Ritter.
When we are just born…
Birth and Baptismal Certificate. To both of these spouses, Leonhard Neidig and his legal wife Margareth born Moser is a daughter to the world born, the 6th day of September in the year of our Lord, 1809. This daughter was born in Douglas Township in Berks County, in the state of Pennsylvania in North America, and received through the holy Baptism the name Sarah the 6th day of December in the year 1809 by the Reverend Mister Jacob Miller. The baptismal sponsors were her parents themselves.
I was baptized, I stand in the union…
I was baptized, if I die immediately…
I was baptized in your name…
Reading, Pa. Printed and for sale by Johann Ritter.
Comment
The Necklace Artist added orange crests to the birds at the bottom, and even a small one on the bird in the left-hand angel’s hand. The artist gets his name from his habit of drawing necklaces on the angels, as seen here. A delicate Celtic knot design was drawn twice within blank space. The artist also added red cheeks to the angels and even put a red dot on the envelope in the angel’s hand at the top, perhaps as sealing wax.
Condition
Good
Bibliographical Reference
Stopp #676
Published
Stopp, Klaus. The Printed Birth and Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans. 6 vols. (Mainz, Germany, and East Berlin, Pa.: privately published, 1997–99). vol. 4, p. 192.
File Format
.jpeg
Type
image
Keywords
fraktur, Pennsylvania German, Pennsylvania Dutch, folk art, illuminated manuscript, taufschein
Image Location
Rights Statement
No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/
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