Preview
Accession Number
PAG1998.190
Creation Date
1810
Description
Printed Taufschein with praying children at sides, butterflies in upper corners, floral and fruit motifs.
Dimensions in Inches
14 x 12 7/8
Dimensions in Centimeters
36 x 33
Materials
Watercolor and ink on laid paper
Technique
Drawn, Hand colored, Hand lettered
Print Shop Location
Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Associated Places
East Hanover Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Category
Birth and baptismal certificate (Geburts-und-Taufschein)
Motifs
angels, flowers, butterflies, fruits
Associated Names
Johannes Zerger, Maria Paffly, O.S. Scheirer
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
Geburt=und Tauf Schein./Diesen beyden Ehegatten als: Johannes/Zerger und seiner ehelichen Hausfrau Maria/eine geborne Päfflÿn ist eine Tochter zur Welt ge=/boren, den 13tn Tag März im Jahr unsers/Herrn, 1806. Diese Dochter ist geboren in O:Hannover/Taunschip in Dauphin Caunty, im Staate Penn=/sÿlvanien und ist getauft worden und erhielt den/Namen Maria Zerger den 20 Tag/November im Jahr unsers Herrn 1891/von Hrn. O. S. Schirrer[?] Die Tauf=Zeugen waren/
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 bleibet 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 Himmelsfreud und Feyerkleid.
Ich bin getauft auf deinem Namen,/Gott, Vater, Sohn und heilger 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
Birth and Baptismal Certificate.
To both of these spouses, Johannes Zerger and his legal wife Maria a born Päfflÿ is a daughter to the world born, the 13th Day of May in the year of our Lord, 1806. This daughter was born in East Hanover Township in Dauphin County in the state of Pennsylvania in North America, and was baptized and the name Maria Zerger the 20 day of November in the year of our Lord 1891 by Mister O. S. Schirrer[?]. The baptismal sponsors were .
I was baptized, I stand in the union…
I was baptized, if I die immediately…
I was baptized in your name…
Comment
Mahantango Valley furniture was sometimes painted with images of praying children such as those seen in this Taufschein. The appearance of butterflies on fraktur in general is very uncommon.
Condition
Good
Bibliographical Reference
Stopp #449.1
Published
Minardi, Lisa. Roots: Ursinus College and the Pennsylvania Germans (Trappe, Pa.: Historic Trappe, 2019), p. 73, fig. 3.47. 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. 3, p. 154. Shoemaker, Alfred L. Check List of Pennsylvania Dutch Printed Taufscheins. Lancaster, Pa.: Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore Center, 1952. 44.
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/
This object has been digitized in a public-private partnership. As part of this partnership, the partners have agreed to limit commercial uses of this digital representation of the object by third parties. You can, without permission, copy, modify, distribute, display, or perform the digital object, for non-commercial uses. For any other permissible uses, please review the terms and conditions of the organization that has made the item available.
