Library and Archives
Research Opportunities
The Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center is a research library. Its vast collections of original primary sources offer unique opportunities for research in a number of fields. The Library welcomes all researchers from children working on school reports to seasoned, professional scholars working on major projects.
Dr. Allen Viehmeyer, Associate Director of Research, is available to assist all researchers with locating collection materials related to their projects.
A high percentage of the collection materials are in German.
The major collections are:
- Protestant Theology, with focus on Reformation, Caspar Schwenckfeld, and the Schwenkfelders.
- Schwenkfelder documents since 1522
- Secular and Religious Music of the Schwenkfelders since 1566
- Ecclesiastical, social, political, and cultural history of Silesia to 1800
- German-American prints and manuscripts to 1900
- Pennsylvania German Dialect Materials
- Local newspapers, photographs, and history of Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, and surrounding communities
- Genealogy materials pertaining to the local Pennsburg area
- Herbarium of pressed and dried plant specimens from the local Pennsburg area