Germantown, Philadelphia
German Town is a city district of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was originally an independent city that was incorporated in 1854 in the city of Philadelphia. The original name of the Pennsylvania Dutch is Deitscheschteddel.
Origin
The city was founded in 1683 by Franz Daniel Pastorius, after the first German settlers closed group arrived on the ship Concord in North America. The group consisted of 13 Quaker and Mennonite families from Krefeld to the room, the so-called "Original 13".
On February 18, 1688, initiated four inhabitants German Towns, Franz Daniel Pastorius, Abraham Isacks op den Graeff, Herman Isacks op den Graeff and Gerrit Based Erich the first protest against slavery in America.
In German Town, the first paper mill was established on the European model in 1690 by William Rittenhouse.
1721 founded the German pastor Anthony Jacobus Henckel the first Lutheran church in German Town. Until his death on August 12, 1728 Henckel worked here. He was buried in the graveyard of St. Michael 's Lutheran Church in German Town. 1917 built his descendants in the cemetery a memorial stone.
In German Town, a battle took place during the American Revolutionary War on October 4, 1777 held, in which the Continental Army was defeated by British troops, but this defeat allowed the decisive victory at Saratoga a few days later.
The Swedish traveler Kalm Pehr wrote in the 18th century about the settlement:
"Six miles from Philadelphia is German Town. This location has only one road, but is almost two miles long. It is inhabited for the greater part of Germans who come from their native to North America and settle down because they here enjoy rights that they have nowhere else. Most of the inhabitants are artisans who produce almost everything in such quantity and excellent quality that this province will only need in a short time very little from England. "
Sons and daughters of the town
- Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), writer
- Amanda Blank, musician
- Joseph Clark (1861-1956), tennis player
- Thomas S. Gates (1906-1983), Marine and Defense Secretary
- Henry Gibson (1935-2009), actor
- Grace Kelly (1929-1982), actress
- Eric Lobron (* 1960), German chess master American descent
- Mike Mentzer (1951-2001), bodybuilder
- David Rittenhouse (1732-1796), astronomer and mathematician and the first director of the United States Mint
- Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915), engineer and biotechnologist
- Owen Wister (1860-1938), writer
Other personalities
- Alexander Mack (1679-1735), German emigrants, founder of Schwarzenau Brethren
- Johann Christoph Sauer (1695-1757), German emigrants, the first printer of the Bible in North America