April 2001 - Nr. 4
Beautiful New World – Rhinelanders conquer America
DZT - In 1764, two people from the Rhineland made their way to a new, unknown world – to North America. There they hoped to get back the land that their grandfather had received in 1682 from William Penn, founder of the state of Pennsylvania.
This exciting trip from the Lower Rhine to the New World is described in detail in the more than 200-year-old diary of the two. Descriptions of such individual adventures from this age are rare.
The diary is the basis for the exhibition "Beautiful New World –Rhinelanders Conquer America" that will run April 5 – Oct. 31, 2002, at the Open Air Museum / State Ethnographic Museum in Kommern near Cologne.
Graphic scenes impressively document the experiences of the emigrants – for example, an emigrant’s inn, the narrow berths of an emigrant ship and the streets of Philadelphia and Germantown in the 18th century.
They are enhanced by objects and documents telling the history of emigration from the Rhineland to North America that continued into the 20th century.
Information: Rheinisches Freilichtmuseum, Auf dem Kahlenbusch, D-53894 Mechernich-Kommern. Tel. 02443-99800. Fax 9980133. Internet: www.kommern.lvr.de . ( Heritage / Travel )
