It has been a productive time of planning the Immigration History Conference 2020. Today we worked on plans for the featured artist and art exhibits that have traditionally been a part of the conference. I have fond memories of Kurt Mueller’s sculpture exhibit, Gary Lucy’s painting exhibit, and Ken Steinhoff’s photography exhibit. This year our … More Art & Artist in Residence
Every once in awhile…as Gerard unlocks the museum for the day…a mystery package greets him–a box, a bag, and once, a beautiful cast iron bell. It is always fun to see what treasures someone has left for our collection. I remember in the past some historic photography. Photographs are special, especially if they are from … More Treasures Found at the Door
We are so pleased to exhibit the historic Thilenius Distributing Model AA Ford truck. We are thankful to LaDonna and the late Howard Thilenius for this accession. It has been fun to use it in our collection. Today, Santa brought the truck to Altenburg, to deliver this giant tree! A very special thanks to Meier … More Santa Claus Came to Town
I am going to cheat again today. I have those typical Thanksgiving obligations to our family, so I’m pulling out an old blog post that was published three years ago. At that time, I wrote this post after Thanksgiving was over. I cannot believe it has been three years since this article was written. I … More Reflections on Thanksgiving
I discovered in our German Family Tree a person with a birthday today who had the surname Unterreiner. I must admit that the first thing that came to my mind was that this surname was a “Catholic name”. The cemetery for our nearest Catholic church, St. Joseph Cemetery, has 44 entries on Findagrave.com that include … More Lutherans and Catholics
Perry County Lutheran Historical Society president, Warren Schmidt has authored the first book in a historical fiction series about Wittenberg, Missouri. It is simply wonderful. I often tell patrons, when they are curious about Wittenberg, that “Wittenberg may look like a former town, but our Wittenbergers are alive and well.” I celebrate that all of … More The Beginning of Two New Series
I am going to be a little selfish today. I am doing some research for a book I am writing. The book includes some romance, believe it or not, and one of those romances involves Otto Lueders and Lydia Weinhold of Wittenberg. I am wondering especially about engagement and wedding traditions with regard to jewelry. … More German Wedding Tradition
Around Perry County, the Fritsche name is often associated with the village of Farrar, and Farrar has an old nickname. It has been referred to as Jammerthal, which means “valley of sorrow”. Today, I will tell the story of another Fritsche (or is it Fritzsche) who helped found a city whose name means “valley of … More Fritzsche in the Valley of Praise
I am going to stray from our usual format today to talk about our blog. I have been meaning to discuss a few items with our readers for a while, and I think today is a good day to do it. One of the reasons I think today is a good day is that we … More The Buzz on our Blog
We are having a very busy weekend here at the Lutheran Heritage Center & Museum, so I put out a call for help. Clayton Erdmann has answered that call, stepped up to the plate, and submitted a blog post for us to use today. Clayton has written several articles for us in the past. He … More From Tragedy to Ministry
