FRAKTUR
Many old world traditions brought by German immigrants to the American colonies from the late 17th century onward have become firmly entrenched in American culture and fully a part of the American melting pot, such as traditional foods. Others, however, have remained forever linked to the German heritage, so much so that they are not well-known outside of the communities of their origin. This could not be truer of the German-American cultural phenomenon known as fraktur. Though recognized today by museums and collectors as treasures of American folk art, the roots of fraktur are far removed from how they are currently perceived.
The term fraktur, as used in this context, refers to German-American decorated manuscripts, which are now part of the greater folk art genre. The purpose of these works, however, was much more than simply decorative; they served important roles in the literacy and spirituality of a German-speaking community and on a personal level, the documenting of life’s passages. Although fraktur is notoriously deemed “Pennsylvania Dutch,” the big picture includes other regions in the United States, namely western Virginia and Ohio. The Pennsylvania Dutch, incidentally, are not “Dutch” but German; “Dutch” is a corruption of the High German “Deutsch” or dialect “Deitsch.”