Welcome to the AlyssumArts blog where we will focus on the Pennsylvania Germans, their culture and decorative arts.  By mid-eighteenth century almost fifty percent of Pennsylvania’s population came from German-speaking areas of Europe. They were inclined to fervently preserve their distinctive dialects, religious beliefs, and European-derived cultural backgrounds which they heartily expressed in their buildings, foods, everyday tools, textiles, and folk art. Their artistic motifs were common to all their creations so that today one can readily identify a piece by its unique construction and decorative elements. They were called Pennsylvania Dutch to distinguish them from the Holland Dutch of New York, and included many pietistic groups such as the Lutherans, Reformed, Mennonites, Dunkers, Schwenkfelders, Amish, Moravians, Catholics, and many other sects who sought relief from religious persecution in Europe.

Del-Louise Moyer