Ephrata Cloister
Ephrata, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Surviving restored buildings of the Seventh Day Baptist community founded by Conrad Beissel. Original buildings erected between 1735 and 1749. Administered by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the 1730s the mystic Conrad Beissel drew German-speaking followers into a Pietist community of celibate ascetics and married householders on the banks of the Cocalico. Between 1735 and 1749 they raised the steep-roofed medieval-style buildings that still survive, living a spare, disciplined life of worship, manual labor, and remarkable creative output — original a cappella hymns, illuminated Fraktur calligraphy, and one of colonial America's busiest printing presses. Kept as the Seventh Day Baptist ('Solitary') brethren, the settlement was among the earliest and most unusual communal societies in the colonies.
Why it matters
Ephrata was one of colonial America's most striking experiments in religious communalism, and its music, printing, and folk art remain a touchstone of early German-American culture.
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Related people
- · Conrad Beissel
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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