Research Collections

The archives' primary collection focus is Wendish heritage in Texas from 1854 to 1990. Collection includes: 16.69 cubic feet manuscript collections, 15.45 cubic feet institutional records, 800 books, pamphlets, 3,000 photographs, maps, one oral history, 13.47 cubic feet newspapers.

 

Ninety-nine percent of the printed matter, manuscripts, and certificates of the historical collection are in Wendish and German. Most of these are in the old fraktur printing and the old German script.

 

Five hundred and fifty of the books are rare, and focus on religious, historical, and educational subjects. Those most revered are the Kilian translations into Wendish and the original writings of Rev. Johann Kilian, the religious leader of the 1854 immigration. Many early editions of the writings of Martin Luther are included. There are also about 1,000 images, collections of personal papers, the Anne Blasig research collection as well as baptismal, confirmation, and marriage certificates. The portraits of wedding couples show the progression from the traditional black bridal dress of the 19th century to the grey and eventually the white of the 20th century.

Artifacts Collections

The museum collection includes artifacts brought from the homeland, Lusatia, and objects used by the Wendish in Texas. Personal, household, religious, educational, agricultural, and business artifacts are included in the exhibits.

Newsletter

Site Links

• Concordia University Texas - Concordia's Wendish Heritage
• The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio - The Wendish Texans
• The Handbook of Texas Online - Wends
• Wikipedia - Wends of Texas
• Wendish Heritage Society of Australia
• Chor Meja

  The famous Wendish choir in Germany. Featured are several recordings of the choir.
• Domowina - An organization based in Bautzen, Germany that supports and develops activities with the goal of protecting and reviving the Sorbian national identity.
• Euromosaic - Sorbian in Germany
• St. Paul Lutheran Church - in Serbin, Texas.
• Lutheran Roots Genealogy Exchange - Searching for German Lutheran Ancestors?

 

References

• The Wends of Texas 1957 by Anne Blasig
• The Texas Wends: Their First Half-Century 1961 by Lillie Moerbe Caldwell
• The Wendish Texans 1982 By Sylvia Ann Gridder
• In Search of Home, Nineteenth-Century Wendish Immigration By George R. Nielson
• So-Called Wends of Germany and their Colonies in Texas and Australia By George C. Engerrand
• A Collection of Histories of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Serbin, Texas
  Edited by Rev. Michael Buchhorn, translated by Dr. Joseph Wilson