Pennsylvania Dutch Country
A region of south-east Pennsylvania where German-speaking settlers kept hex signs, powwowing and a book of charms.
Practised and told of here
Best time: Late spring to early autumn.
German-speaking Protestants settled in Pennsylvania from about 1683. They brought a folk-magic tradition called powwow, or Braucherei in Pennsylvania German, in which healers use prayer, a gesture and a spoken formula, usually Christian, to ask for help with illness and loss.
Powwow
Practitioners were often farmers or women who received the knowledge from a person of the opposite sex. A book, The Long Lost Friend, printed in 1820 by John George Hohman, gathers charms and became popular. The word comes from an Algonquian term and has no connection to powwow gatherings today.
Hex signs
The painted star-like symbols on barns were once thought to be charms. Historians find little evidence for that, and think they are mostly decoration, called by the name in the twentieth century for tourists. The story changes with who tells it.
A murder
In 1928 in York, three men killed a man named Nelson Rehmeyer, whom they thought had cursed a young man. The case, which went to trial, is an example of a belief in witchcraft with deadly effect.
A respectful visit to Pennsylvania Dutch Country
Living communities are not a show. Ask before photographing a person or a ceremony, and follow local rules.
- Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum Look at the folk life collections.
- Hex sign barns See the signs, with a sense that most are modern.
- Ephrata Cloister Visit the nearby religious community site.
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Pennsylvania Dutch" on Wikipedia. Opening hours, markets and ceremonies change; check locally before travelling. If something is wrong, tell us.
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