Conrad Beissel came to the Pennsylvania backcountry in 1732 to live as a hermit on his own religious terms, expecting an imminent spiritual union with God. By the early 1750s nearly 80 celibate Brothers and Sisters lived in Germanic-style buildings alongside some 250 married Householders. Members wore white robes, kept sparse diets, and limited their sleep.

The community became known for three things: Frakturschriften calligraphy regarded as the first of that folk art in America, self-composed a cappella music built on Beissel's four-part harmony rules with more than 1,000 original pieces, and a printing house that produced the 1,500-page Martyrs Mirror, the largest book printed in colonial America. During the Revolution the cloister served as a hospital for nearly 250 American soldiers. The society declined after Beissel's death in 1768; the last celibate member died in 1813, and the remaining Householders incorporated as the German Seventh Day Baptist Church in 1814, holding the buildings until 1934. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission took over administration in 1941.

Visiting

Open Wednesday through Saturday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and Sunday 12:00 to 4:00 pm. Admission: adults (12 to 64) $10, seniors 65+ $9, youth 3 to 11 $6, under 3 free, and active duty military and their families free. See Ephrata Cloister for current hours and program schedules.

Photo: Elisa Rolle, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ephrata_Cloister%2C_1.jpg))

Associated traditions & practices

Sacred Vocal & Instrumental Music

Traditions from this region

Traditions historically rooted in this region — offered as background context, not as a claim about this particular place.

Pennsylvania Dutch Powwow