Heritage Center Library Collections

Highlights of the Heritage Center Library include the Don Yoder Folklife Collection; Pennsylvania German Society publications; immigration records; church and cemetery records; will abstracts; tax and land records; family histories; Revolutionary and Civil War records; the published Pennsylvania Archives; and works regarding the culture, dialect, and folklore of the Pennsylvania Germans. Open at no charge to members of Heritage Center. There is a charge of $5 for non-members.

  • MAIN COLLECTION
    • Immigration and Emigration Records
        • 18th Century 
        • 19th Century 
        • Germans to America, Series I and II:
          1840-1848; 1850-1897 
        • Pfälz records*
    • Church and Cemetery Records
    • Family Histories/Genealogies
    • Combined Family Histories
    • County Histories
    • Pastoral Records
    • Census Records 
        • 1880 United States Census and National Index 
        • 1800-1930 Berks County
    • Civil Records 
        • Will Abstracts 
        • Orphans Court Abstracts
    • The Published PA Archives
    • Revolutionary and Civil War Records
    • Pennsylvania Dutch Traditions, Folklore, Dialect
    • Virginia, Maryland, Ohio records
    • Periodicals

    * Records are from the Institut für Pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The Pfälz is also referred to as the Palatinate area of Germany where many of the Pennsylvania Germans originated.

  • SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
    • Pennsylvania German Society Collection
    • Don Yoder Collection
    • Francis Kline Collection