Research Opportunities

The Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center is a research library. Its vast collections of original primary sources offer unique opportunities for research in a number of fields. The Library welcomes all researchers from children working on school reports to seasoned, professional scholars working on major projects.

Dr. Allen Viehmeyer, Associate Director of Research, is available to assist all researchers with locating collection materials related to their projects.

A high percentage of the collection materials are in German.

The major collections are:

Protestant Theology, with focus on Reformation, Caspar Schwenckfeld, and the Schwenkfelders.

Schwenkfelder documents since 1522

Secular and Religious Music of the Schwenkfelders since 1566

Ecclesiastical, social, political, and cultural history of Silesia to 1800

German-American prints and manuscripts to 1900

Pennsylvania German Dialect Materials

Local newspapers, photographs, and history of Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, and surrounding communities

Genealogy materials pertaining to the local Pennsburg area

Herbarium of pressed and dried plant specimens from the local Pennsburg area