The Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center

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The Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center is an open-air folklife museum and research center dedicated to preserving and celebrating Pennsylvania German folk culture, history, and language in a unique educational setting at Kutztown University. Located on the historic Sharadin Farmstead, the Heritage Center engages the University community and the public with seasonal cultural programming, historic buildings and exhibitions, a world-class research library collection, as well as conferences, online-educational resources, lectures, and classes in Pennsylvania Dutch language.  An extensive research library is available for all who wish to conduct genealogical, historical, linguistic, and cultural research. The Heritage Center also publishes Hiwwe wie Driwwe, the world's only Pennsylvania German newspaper, and the Annual Publication Series, which showcases premier research in Pennsylvania German Studies. The Heritage Center offers tours of the historic site by appointment to individuals, organizations, and schools. Please visit the Heritage Center, become a member, and help support cultural programming at Kutztown University.

Image of the brick one-room schoolhouse with flowers in the foreground.

Freyberger Schoolhouse

1870's Brick One-Room Schoolhouse

Looking at the slate board at the front of the class from the back of the schoolhouse. Wooden 2-seater desks make three rows facing front.

Freyberger Schoolhouse

Inside the One-Room Schoolhouse

Image of one-rooms school childrens' books in English and in German.

Schoolhouse Textbooks

Reading, writing, and arithmetic books used by children attending one-room schoolhouses.

Photo of the front of the stone farmhouse with a white picket garden fence

Sharadin Farmhouse

1814 Stone Farmhouse

A tour group of students standing in the gravel driveway in front of the house, listening to the tour guide.

School and Group Tours Available

Guided tours can be scheduled by calling the Heritage Center Office.

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Sharadin Farmhouse

Entryway to the home looks straight into the kitchen.

The teal mantle over the white stone fireplace in the parlor is decorated for Christmas

Sharadin Farmhouse Parlor

Decorated for Christmas, the parlor fireplace features portraits of Ephram Sharadin and ancestors of Dr. Don Yoder.

A bright yellow kitchen featuring a hearth, cast iron stove, redware, and other implements on two wooden tables.

Sharadin Farmhouse Kitchen

The large hearth is the focal point of this well-used kitchen.

Image of a female identifying student and a male identifying student preparing window sashes for instillation.

Student Interns

The Heritage Center works closely with multiple departments at Kutztown University to provide internships for students.

Image of the forebay side of the red and stone bank barn. The barn also has three barn stars painted along the side.

Sharadin Bank Barn

1820's Bank Barn

A female identifying student with her head tilted to the right, stands on a ladder painting a yellow, black, white, and red barn star

Student Workers

Student Workers are able to try their hand at traditional crafts of the PA Germans

Image of a log cabin with a shingle roof against a blue sky. There is white morter between the hand hewn logs

Corrigan Log Cabin

Now used as a Tin Smith Shop, the Corrigan Log Cabin also showcases a collection of tools.

Two female identifying students working together to put on a wooden shingle roof on an outhouse

Student Workers

The Heritage Center has a variety of opportunities for students on site.

Image of the stone summer kitchen

Sharadin Summer kitchen

Summer Kitchen

Image of the brick one-room schoolhouse with flowers in the foreground.
Looking at the slate board at the front of the class from the back of the schoolhouse. Wooden 2-seater desks make three rows facing front.
Image of one-rooms school childrens' books in English and in German.
Photo of the front of the stone farmhouse with a white picket garden fence
A tour group of students standing in the gravel driveway in front of the house, listening to the tour guide.
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The teal mantle over the white stone fireplace in the parlor is decorated for Christmas
A bright yellow kitchen featuring a hearth, cast iron stove, redware, and other implements on two wooden tables.
Image of a female identifying student and a male identifying student preparing window sashes for instillation.
Image of the forebay side of the red and stone bank barn. The barn also has three barn stars painted along the side.
A female identifying student with her head tilted to the right, stands on a ladder painting a yellow, black, white, and red barn star
Image of a log cabin with a shingle roof against a blue sky. There is white morter between the hand hewn logs
Two female identifying students working together to put on a wooden shingle roof on an outhouse
Image of the stone summer kitchen

The Heritage Center museum is currently closed to the public for tours and activities due to the construction of the Heritage Center’s new headquarters, library, and archives building. To learn more about this exciting new project please visit us at kuf.org.

All other requests for research or information must be scheduled by appointment only. Contact us to schedule an appointment with a staff member.

Hours of Office Operation:
Monday through Friday:
10 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Phone: 610-683-1589
22 Luckenbill Road
Kutztown, PA 19530