The Schwenkfelder

The Schwenkfelder Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from The Schwenkfelder, 105 Seminary Street, Pennsburg, PA.
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We are a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history of the Schwenkfelders and the history of southeastern Pennsylvania and the Perkiomen Region. Our page is maintained by our Curator of Collections Candace Perry, our Executive Director Beth Twiss Houting, and our Administrative Assistant Joanne Jalowy.

Tracing your Pennsylvania roots? Some answers may already be sitting on our shelves. The Schwenkfelder Library holds chu...
08/31/2026

Tracing your Pennsylvania roots? Some answers may already be sitting on our shelves.

The Schwenkfelder Library holds church records, fraktur birth certificates, and family histories for dozens of Pennsylvania German surnames, including many you won't find in any national database. Our staff can help you follow a name back through generations, one document at a time.

If you're ready to start, call us at 215-679-3103 to set up a research appointment.

The 1929 Willing Workers Cookbook provides us with a classic German potato salad that is served warm. We share this reci...
08/30/2026

The 1929 Willing Workers Cookbook provides us with a classic German potato salad that is served warm. We share this recipe in honor of August 30th, Bacon Day! If you have never had it, it is certainly worth trying!!

Ever wonder what a handmade quilt can tell you about the people who made it? Our collections hold stories like these in ...
08/27/2026

Ever wonder what a handmade quilt can tell you about the people who made it?

Our collections hold stories like these in everyday objects from the past. Pennsylvania German fraktur, for example, marked births and baptisms in tulips and calligraphy. Decorated hand towels displayed household pride, and quilts held the warmth of a family home.

Come see them up close at the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center. Plan your visit at schwenkfelder.org/visit.

08/25/2026

For the waning Dog Days of Summer. . .

08/23/2026

We are not ALL old stuff! Come see this exhibit of colorful and clever quilts.

The Willing Workers Cookbook of Sumneytown (c. 1929) helps us celebrate National Eat-a-Peach by offering this delicious ...
08/22/2026

The Willing Workers Cookbook of Sumneytown (c. 1929) helps us celebrate National Eat-a-Peach by offering this delicious sounding recipe for Carameled Peaches!

Did you grow up in home furnished in the Colonial Revival Style? Candace Perry explains why in Live Like a Founding Fath...
08/21/2026

Did you grow up in home furnished in the Colonial Revival Style? Candace Perry explains why in Live Like a Founding Father (https://bit.ly/4wYBCBz). The video is available through September I with passcode: BB #120826.

Most people of Pennsylvania German descent are ready to celebrate Potato Day EVERY day, but Aug 19th is officially Potat...
08/20/2026

Most people of Pennsylvania German descent are ready to celebrate Potato Day EVERY day, but Aug 19th is officially Potato Day. The Willing Workers Cookbook from Sumneytown offers us this 1929 recipe entitled Saratoga Chips. If anyone knows the origin of the name, please put it in the Comments section!

Join us next weekend in Oaks at the Bedminster Traditional Artisan Show. You will have chance to visit with over 45 of t...
08/10/2026

Join us next weekend in Oaks at the Bedminster Traditional Artisan Show. You will have chance to visit with over 45 of the country's finest artisans working in traditional Americana and folk art as well as have a chance to check out our stuff. The event is held in the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center Hall E from 10 to 5 on Saturday, August 15 and 11 to 3 on Sunday, August 16. For more info, see traditionalartisanshow.com/.

For the month of August, we will share recipes from The Willing Workers Cookbook, published by the Willing Workers Socie...
08/07/2026

For the month of August, we will share recipes from The Willing Workers Cookbook, published by the Willing Workers Society of Frieden's Union Church in Sumneytown. The one shown is the 7th edition, dated 1929. Anyone else have a copy? Here is the recipe for Schwenkfelder Cakes which interestingly tells you want time to start mixing! All the recipes are in paragraph form, but we are reformatting for ease of reading. As is often the case, the recipes do not offer as much detail as cookbooks today.
"Schwenkfelder Cakes"
5PM take one c sugar
1 c mashed potato
1/2 c warm in which the potatoes were boiled
1/2 c butter and lard mixed
3 eggs
1 c yeast
Mix; let set until 9PM, then add flour (not too stiff). In the morning, form into cakes, let raise again; put butter and sugar on top of each cake. Bake in moderate oven.

Address

105 Seminary Street
Pennsburg, PA
18073

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 1pm - 4pm

Telephone

+12156793103

Website

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