Ephrata Cloister: Difference between revisions

| designated_nrhp_type = December 24, 1967<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=756&ResourceType=District|title=Ephrata Cloister|accessdateaccess-date=2008-07-02|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007210131/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=756&ResourceType=District|archive-date=2012-10-07|url-status=dead}}</ref>

| designated_other1_date = March 18, 1947<ref name=phmcdatabase>{{cite web | title =PHMC Historical Markers | work =Historical Marker Database | publisher =Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission | url =http://search.pahistoricalmarkers.com/ | accessdateaccess-date =December 23, 2013 | archive-url =https://archive.istoday/20131207041235/http://search.pahistoricalmarkers.com/ | archive-date =December 7, 2013 | url-status =dead }}</ref>

The '''Ephrata Cloister''' or '''Ephrata Community''' was a [[CommunalismIntentional community|religious community]], established in 1732 by [[Conrad Beissel|Johann Conrad Beissel]] at [[Ephrata, Pennsylvania|Ephrata]], in what is now [[Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Lancaster County]], Pennsylvania. The grounds of the community are now owned by the [[Commonwealth of Pennsylvania]] and are administered by the [[Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission]].

[[Marie Kachel Bucher]], the last surviving resident of the Ephrata Cloister, died on July 27, 2008, at the age of 98.<ref name=lancaster>{{cite news|title=Obituary of Marie Elizabeth Kachel Bucher|url=http://obits.lancasteronline.com/index.php?p=2163139|work=[[Intelligencer Journal]]|date=2008-07-29|accessdateaccess-date=2008-07-31|url-status=dead|archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080731202613/http://obits.lancasteronline.com/index.php?p=2163139|archivedatearchive-date=2008-07-31}}</ref>

The community was descended from the [[Pietism|pietistic]] [[Schwarzenau Brethren]] movement of [[Alexander Mack]] of [[Schwarzenau, Bad Berleburg|Schwarzenau]] in [[Germany]]. The first [[schism]] from the general body occurred in 1728—the [[Schwarzenau Brethren#Divisions|Seventh Day Dunkers]], whose distinctive principle was that the seventh day was the true [[Sabbath in seventh-day churches|Sabbath]].

In 1732, Beissel arrived at the banks of [[Cocalico Creek]] in Lancaster County. Around this charismatic leader a semi-monastic community (the Camp of the Solitary) with a [[convent]] (the Sister House) and a [[monastery]] (the Brother House) was established, called "Ephrata" after Biblical [[Ephrath]]. The members of the order were celibate. Members were required to sleep on wooden benches {{convert|15|in|mm}} wide, with wooden blocks for pillows. They slept six hours per night, from 9 P.M. to midnight, and from 2 A.M. until 5 A.M., with a two-hour break to "watch" for the coming of [[Christ (title)|Christ]]. They ate one small [[vegetarian]] meal a day. The only time the followers of Beissel were permitted to eat meat was during the celebration of [[Eucharist|communion]] when [[lamb and mutton|lamb]] was served. The members of the cloister spent much time at work or praying privately. Services every Saturday were led by Beissel, often being several hours long.

Other believing families settled near the community, accepted Beissel as their spiritual leader and worshipped with them on [[Biblical Sabbath|Sabbath]]. These families made an integral part to the cloister, which could not be self-sustaining without them. The brothers and sisters of Ephrata are famous for their writing and publishing of [[hymn]]s, and the composition of tunes in four voices.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web |last=Keatley |first=Avery |title=A New Album Re-Creates The Work Of The 1st Known Female Composers In America |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/07/24/894685706/a-new-album-recreates-the-work-of-the-first-known-women-composers-in-america |publisher=NPR |access-date=25 July 2020}}</ref> Beissel served as the community's composer as well as spiritual leader, and devised his own system of composition. The Ephrata hymnal (words only) was printed in 1747.

The charismatic Beissel died in 1768, and this contributed to a declining membership. The monastic aspect was gradually abandoned, with the last celibate member dying in 1813. In 1814, the Society was incorporated as the ''German Seventh Day Baptist Church'' (or ''The German Religious Society of Seventh Day Baptists''). Branches were established in other locations,; sometwo stillof survivingthem instill exist 2009today. In 1941, a {{convert|28|acre|m2}} Ephrata tract of land with remaining buildings was conveyed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for use as a state historical site. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission led excavations there which, among other things, uncovered the Cloister's use as a hospital during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary hospitalWar]] (1775–83). Of special note, the only [[glass]] [[trumpet]] of its kind in North America was unearthed by archaeologists in 1998 at the Cloister. The trumpet, which likely came from Germany, was found in excellent condition which led archaeologists to believe it was intentionally buried. The mouthpiece was the only part missing from the trumpet, so it is unknown if it has ever been played.

*{{cite book |last=Hinds |first=William Alfred |title=American Communities and Cooperative Colonies |url=https://archive.org/details/AmericanCommunitiesAndCo-operativeColonies |publisher=University Press of the Pacific |publication-place=Honolulu |year=2004 |orig-year=1908 |isbn=9781410211521 |edition=Second |oclc=609764632 |ref=harv}}

[[Category:Historic Househouse Museumsmuseums of the Pennsylvania Germans]]