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Pennsylvania German Mennonite culture

Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society is your home for Mennonite and Pennsylvania German history, genealogy, faith, art and culture.  

Known as Anabaptists (for their emphasis on believers' baptism as adults) when they originated in 1525 in Zurich as the radical wing of the Protestant Reformation, these Christian followers of Jesus came to be known as Mennonites after Menno Simons, an early Dutch leader who died in 1561. 

Basic tenets of the faith, for which they were willing to sacrifice their lives, included nonviolence, love of enemy, believers' baptism as adults, discipleship, and voluntary church membership. 

The Amish split from the Mennonites in 1693 took place in Europe over the issue of church discipline, thus Amish and Mennonites followed differing migrations to America.

In America, both groups were part of a larger 18th and 19th century Pennsylvania German milieu that also included German Baptists, Lutherans, and Reformed Church members.

 

Currently one-fifth of the U.S. population is of German ancestry; most whose ancestors immigrated  before 1892 (when Ellis Island opened) are of Pennsylvania German heritage.

Mennonites in the U.S. today number 252,638 persons; of these, 37 percent identify as Conservative or Old Order Mennonite.

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Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society
2215 Millstream Rd
Lancaster, PA 17602-1499
United States
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Phone: (717) 393-9745
Fax: (717) 393-8751
E-mail: lmhs@lmhs.org

Open Tuesday-Saturday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Closed major holidays.

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