Ephrata Cloister
632 West Main Street
Ephrata, Pennsylvania 17522
Telephone: (717) 733-6600
Fax: (717) 733-4364

Beginning in the 1700s, the Ephrata Cloister has attracted the attention of the media. Whether in newspapers, magazines, on radio or television, the stories of Ephrata Cloister have been the subject of public interest.

Members of the media wishing to visit the Ephrata Cloister are encouraged to make arrangements in advance of their visit. Recording devices beyond a normal hand-held camera will require prior arrangement.

If you are unable to visit the site, but still wish to include Ephrata Cloister in your story, please contact the historic site to address any questions you may have.

Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Commonwealth’s official history agency, is responsible for preserving and maintaining elements of historic and cultural interest to the citizens of Pennsylvania. The Commission’s work includes the management of the Pennsylvania State Archives, archaeology, historic preservation and the promotion of educational programs focused on the state’s history. In addition, the Commission administers the 26 historic sites and museums on the Pennsylvania Trail of History which includes the Ephrata Cloister. For additional information about the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission consult the web site at www.phmc.state.pa.us.
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Ephrata Cloister Associates
The Ephrata Cloister Associates, incorporated in 1958, is a non-profit organization composed of interested persons who are dedicated to the continued preservation and promotion of the Ephrata Cloister through the sponsorship of special activities such as the Ephrata Cloister Chorus, the Student Historians program, the Back to the Cloister Fund which helps to return original artifacts to the site, and educational programs for special audiences. The Associates also maintain The Museum Store at Ephrata Cloister which specializes in Cloister related books, gifts and hand-crafted items.
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Hours
The Ephrata Cloister is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday from noon until 5:00 p.m. The historic site is closed on Monday and Tuesday in January and February, and on Easter, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

Guided tours are offered daily and are the only way to see the two main structures. Additional buildings are open for self-guided tours. The last tour of the day begins at 4:00 p.m.
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Admission
Admission to the Ephrata Cloister is $9.00 for adults, $8.00 for senior citizens age 65 and above, and $6.00 for youth ages 3 – 11. Children under age 3 are admitted free. Some special programs may have additional costs.
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Location
The Ephrata Cloister is located mid-way between Lancaster and Reading in the Borough of Ephrata. The entrance to the historic site is on Route 322 at the intersection with Route 272.
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Time Line
1691 Conrad Beissel, founder of Ephrata Cloister is born in Eberbach, Germany.

1720 Beissel comes to America and eventually settles in Lancaster County.

1732 Beissel leaves his friends near Lancaster to pursue a life of solitude. This is the start of the Ephrata Cloister.

1741 Ephrata Cloister begins to develop industries of milling and printing

1740s-1750s Ephrata Cloister is at its peak with about 80 celibate members and an additional 200 married members. The community becomes a center for the creation of art, music and printing. Significant buildings, including the surviving dormitory and meetinghouse are built.

1768 Conrad Beissel dies and the community begins to decline

1777 A military hospital is established at Ephrata by the American Army in the Revolutionary War

1813 Last celibate member dies; the remaining married members for the German Seventh Day Baptist Church

1934 The congregation of the German Seventh Day Baptist Church at Ephrata is dissolved

1941 The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acquires the historic site and begins restoration.
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Story Ideas
With more than 300 years of history to draw from, stories abound at the Ephrata Cloister. Some of the historic community’s distinctive features such as art, music, architecture, printing, and a disciplined daily life, are just the springboard for stories to captivate and educate audiences with the riches of Pennsylvania’s history.

Write On: Artwork at the Ephrata Cloister
Have you ever tried to write with a quill pen? It isn’t easy. That’s what makes the artwork of the Ephrata Cloister all the more amazing. Using quills, brushes and ink the members of the religious community expressed their devotion in a Germanic form of calligraphy known as Frakturschriften or “broken writing.” The intricate penmanship was used to inscribe books and make large posters for exhibit in the meetinghouses. Additionally, the writings were decorated with finely detailed drawings of birds, people, and numerous imaginative flowers. This style of artwork was first introduced to America at the Ephrata Cloister, and the work created here has never been equaled. See for yourself on a visit to the historic site.

Committed to Print: Printing at the Ephrata Cloister
In an age of computers and desktop publishing, it’s hard to imagine creating books by hand, one page at a time. For the Brothers of the Ephrata Cloister, publishing books was just part of their daily work. Using the ink they made with the paper from their paper mill, the Ephrata Cloister produced nearly 125 different works during the last half of the 18th-century. Included in the assortment of religious tracts and hymnals printed for themselves, the community’s press also issued a wide array of titles for neighbors including a protest against slavery printed for local Quakers, a prayer book for Lancaster’s Episcopal congregation, blank deed forms for land in nearby towns, and for the Mennonites, 1500 page Martyrs Mirror, the largest book printed in America before the Revolutionary War. Today publications from Ephrata are valued treasures found in museums and libraries around the world. Discover how a community on Pennsylvania’s early frontier created a complete publishing center with an international reputation.

Music in the Air: Music at the Ephrata Cloister
Your music teacher would never tell you to sing with your head bowed and your mouth almost closed—unless your teacher was Conrad Beissel, founder of the Ephrata Cloister. This singing method was just part of distinctive sound which could be heard at the historic community in the mid-1700s. Members of the religious society created over one thousand hymns using the rules of composition developed by Beissel. No instruments were permitted, and a strict diet was prescribed to help develop the voice. All together, the rules of Ephrata music must have worked, for visitors who heard the Brothers and Sisters perform described the sound as heavenly. Today, the Ephrata Cloister Chorus continues to preserve and perform this captivating music. After hearing it, you too may agree with one 18th-century visitor who said it was music that “thrilled to the very soul.”

Colonial Skyscrapers: Architecture at the Ephrata Cloister
In a time when most people still lived in log homes, a five-story building on the edge of Pennsylvania’s early frontier was quite an impressive site. It was all the more amazing when you consider that the members of the Ephrata Cloister built eight similar buildings in the span of ten years starting in 1735. Using the construction traditions of their Germanic homeland, these buildings served as worship halls and dormitories for the celibate community. Along with these steep roofed buildings were mills, workshops and smaller homes. All total, their community was comprised of about 50 structures, all with a distinctive German style. Today, nine of these early buildings have been preserved and provide a stage on which to explore part of Penn’s “Holy Experiment.”

Testing the Limits of Faith: Daily Life at the Ephrata Cloister
Food, clothing, shelter—these are universal concerns that every early American settler had to face. While the buildings of the Ephrata Cloister differed only in their massive size when compared to other Germanic style buildings in Lancaster County during the 1700s, the life lived in these homes was far different. Disciplined daily schedules for the celibate members of the religious community included hours for work and prayer. A long white robe was the distinctive style of dress for the Brothers and Sisters, and combined with single meal served each evening, members had a pale and gaunt appearance. Their six hours of nightly rest was broken by a midnight worship service, and their time for sleep was spent on a wooden bench with a block of wood for a pillow. These actions, however, were only the outward expressions of a deep and complex inner faith shared by members of this community. During a visit to the Ephrata Cloister, modern day guests can explore this unique way of life which was part of Pennsylvania’s early history.

Additional ideas:
Revolutionary War Hospital at the Cloister
Revolutionary War Memorial at the Cloister
Restoration of the Cloister, 1941-1960
The Ephrata Cloister Chorus
Old Legends at the Cloister
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News Releases

Building History: Making and Saving Historic Architecture

“Utter darkness and mystery” is how one reporter described the historic buildings of the Ephrata Cloister when he visited more than a century ago. In his day, the large structures covered with wooden siding and dotted with small windows, were already more than 140 years old. As mysterious as they might be, today these buildings stand among the most outstanding examples of architecture to survive from early America. And they’re ready to give up their secrets. Stone walls laced with timbers, windows without putty, and shingles attached with a single nail are just some of the features of the program, Building History: Making and Saving Historic Architecture, to be held at the Ephrata Cloister on June 16 and 17, 2007. This two-day event will showcase the ways which early settlers used to build their homes, and the efforts used today to save these treasures. The program will run from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day. Admission is $12.00 for adults, $10 for senior citizens age 60 and above, and $6.00 for youth ages 6-17.
“Some of these buildings were like skyscrapers in the days when they were built,” says Toni Collins, historic site administrator. Now the five-story meetinghouse and it’s neighboring four-story dormitory dominate the landscape of the historic site, and serve as a backdrop for craftsmen who will demonstrate historic building techniques. Timber framing, shingle making, and stone cutting are just some of the demonstrations scheduled for the event. In addition, presentations throughout the days will provide information about preserving historic structures and advice for owners of old houses. Tours of un-restored portions of the Cloister buildings, hands-on activities, and special exhibits will also help visitors explore the buildings of early Pennsylvania German settlers. “Understanding how these treasures were made is one part of the story, learning how to save them for the future is just as important,” adds Collins.

Ephrata Cloister, founded in 1732, was a protestant monastic community of celibate Brothers and Sisters supported by a married congregation who lived near the settlement. Members, mostly German immigrants, sought spiritual goals rather than earthly rewards and chose Saturday as their main day of worship. At its zenith in the 1750s and 1750s, the congregation numbered nearly 300 people. Housed in impressive Germanic-style buildings, the lifestyle of the celibate members was characterized by strict discipline and self-denial. They became known for their self-composed music, Germanic calligraphy called Frakturschriften, and printing. Following the death of the last celibate member in 1813, the remaining married congregation formed the German Seventh Day Baptist Church. Members continued to live and worship at the Cloister until 1934. In 1941 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acquired the surviving elements of the historic site and began a program of restoration and interpretation. Today, nine original buildings are part of a 28-acre complex open for visitors. The Ephrata Cloister Associates, a private, non-profit membership group, provides support for the continued preservation and educational programs at the historic site. The Associates operate The Museum Store at Ephrata Cloister, a source for books, note cards, prints, handmade crafts, and fine gifts.

The Ephrata Cloister is located in the Borough of Ephrata at 632 West Main Street (Route 322) at the intersection with Route 272. For more information about the Building History program, please call the Ephrata Cloister at (717) 733-6600. Persons with disabilities who need special assistance or accommodation should call in advance to discuss their needs.

March 20, 2007 Contact: Michael Showalter
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