The Germanna Foundation’s annual trip to Germany is an exceptional experience. The ancestral villages of the participants become the itinerary for each year’s trip. The next trip takes place 17-29 June 2019. One of the tour guides is a Germanna trustee, descendant, and expert on Germanna genealogy and the other is a German native who […]
Contribute to the Archaeology Lab-Warming Shower!
As the construction of the new Hitt Archaeology Center continues, Germanna Archaeology is dreaming about the future possibilities of working together at cleaning and identifying the artifacts that we recover each summer. We’re already anticipating the chance to display artifacts and share our findings with visitors to the Archaeology Center. As these dreams come closer to […]
Germanna in Memoriam
The Germanna Foundation extends condolences to family members of people in our Germanna community who passed away recently: Horst Schneider The board received with regret news of the death of Trustee Emeritus Horst Schneider of Siegen Kaan-Marienbborn on 3 October 2018. Horst succeeded his good friend Heinz Prinz on the Germanna board when Heinz died […]
The Germanna Foundation names Timothy E. Sutphin Executive Director
The Germanna Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Timothy E. Sutphin as its new Executive Director. Tim joins the foundation with over 25 years of experience in the public history profession with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. “The chance to lead the Germanna Foundation in a new and exciting direction […]
Germanna Foundation Strategic Plan: 2018-2023
The Germanna Foundation engaged Bryan & Jordan Consulting, LLC in April 2018 to assist with its strategic planning process. Our commitment was to prepare goals and action items that were achievable and could ensure a relevant and sustainable future for the Foundation and the sites it oversees. The Germanna Foundation Board of Trustees, the staff, […]
Partner with Germanna in Our Journey of Exploration
I am writing to share with you the excitement I have about the future of the Germanna Foundation. I wish to thank you for the support you have given to sustain our 62-year-old foundation, and today ask you renew your support during our most significant time of opportunities. 2018 has been an important year of […]
Germanna Foundation Holds Ground-Breaking Ceremony for the New Hitt Archaeology Center
During a short break in the weather of Hurricane Michael barreling through Virginia on Thursday, October 11, 2018, the Germanna Foundation held the ground-breaking ceremony at the future site of the Hitt Archaeology Center. This new facility, made possible by a generous gift from Russell and Joan Hitt, will be built next to the Fort […]
50 years into the future: Germanna Foundation seeks time capsule contributions
An article about Germanna’s time capsule appeared in the Orange County Review, written by Amber Galaviz: If you could write yourself a letter and open it 50 years from now, what would you say? Or what would you like to tell your future descendants about your life and family? These are questions the Germanna Foundation […]
Participate in the Germanna Foundation’s first Time Capsule, to be opened in July 2068
UPDATE: New deadline for submissions is now December 15, 2018. How many people can proudly say that they have personally contributed a very personal and meaningful item into a time capsule to eventually be discovered by yet unborn descendants? WELL, YOU CAN!! The Board of Trustees of the Germanna Foundation has announced a unique opportunity […]
Hilary Duff discovers she is a Spotswood descendant
On a recent episode of the TLC TV series, “Who Do You Think You Are?”, actress/singer Hilary Duff found out that her 7x great-grandfather was early colonial Virginia Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood! Here at Germanna, we knew about this early on but were unable to say anything as we did not know what material they’d […]
Germanna Record 20 Available Again and Now on Kindle
Our book, Germanna Record 20: “Germanna Studies: Essays Honoring John V. Blankenbaker” had been sold out but we have reissued it. The design of the cover and interior pages of the print book have been updated and all photos and graphics in the book enhanced. The book is also now available on Kindle. You can read […]
Anna Jarvis, the Germanna Descendant who Founded Mother’s Day
Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother’s Day, devoted years to gaining national recognition for a day to honor mothers, as a fulfillment of a dream held by her own mother—Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis. Ann Marie was born in Culpeper in 1832, the daughter of Josiah Washington Reeves and Nancy Kemper Reeves, whose Kemper ancestor Johannes […]
Dutch Ambassador Visits Fort Germanna Visitor Center
It was a great honor to have Ambassador Henne Schuwer from the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Fort Germanna Visitor Center on Saturday, March 24, 2018. Germanna Foundation President Marc Wheat welcomed him and gave him a tour of the visitor center/museum/library. Germanna has a deep and unusual connection with the Kingdom of the Netherlands: […]
The Chalice of Oberfischbach & Germanna
At the Germanna First Colony 300th anniversary celebration, Marc Wheat told those assembled at the Fort Germanna Visitor Center that perhaps the most meaningful object that our members had touched on the Germany trip with the Foundation was the Oberfischbach chalice. It was a chalice used in that parish to administer communion by Rev. Henrich […]
Who Were Germanna’s Founders?
The inspiring history of the Germanna colonies lay nearly forgotten for 200 years. Threads of awareness emerge in the historical writing of professor William J. Hinke c. 1920, in an inquiry to President Calvin Coolidge from Müsen, Germany, in 1927 about descendants of the 1714 emigrants from that village, in the Reformed Church’s commemoration of […]
“Germanna on the Frontier” Reunion & Conference in July
It’s the Germanna Event of the Year! The annual reunion and conference where Germanna “cousins” from all over the country and world come back to where it all started in Virginia at Fort Germanna. A full four-day schedule of events is planned for socializing, learning and having fun. This year’s 61st reunion is called “Germanna […]
Announcing Germanna’s Christmas Markets on the Rhine River Cruise, December 2019
Join your Germanna Foundation cousins on a cruise that takes you to 10 cities and 9 Christmas Markets in 4 countries from December 8-15, 2019. By going on this cruise, you help raise funds for the mission and work of the Germanna Foundation. The cruise will ALSO trace a long portion of the river path […]
Six Ways to Make the New Tax Bill Work for You – BEFORE the end of 2017
This Bloomberg article shares good advice on strategies to save money off your April tax bill, including this important advice regarding making tax-deductible donations: . . . . . A typical piece of end-of-the-year advice is to increase your potential deductions before Jan. 1. Deductions claimed for things you did this year will lower tax bills due the […]
Germanna 101 – History of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia
Germanna Foundation Membership Development Manager Ashley Abruzzo (and Germanna descendant) presents a video overview on the history of the Germanna Colony, a German-speaking settlement that began in 1714 at Fort Germanna at what was then the western-most frontier of Virginia. The Fort was situated between what is now Fredericksburg and Culpeper, Virginia. She also discusses […]
Germanna Descendant in NSA’s Hall of Honor
Parker Hitt, a 3rd great-grandson of Peter Hitt and Elizabeth Otterbach, through Germanna Colonists Harmon Hitt and wife Mary Weaver, is in the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Hall of Honor for being a pioneer in cryptology. Here is the write-up about him on NSA’s website: NSA/CSS Hall of Honor The Hall of Honor was created in […]
Give the Gift of Germanna
. . . . and help support the Germanna Foundation! Wondering what to give the Germanna descendant in your life? We’ve got a lot of ideas for you: • BEFORE you shop on Amazon, use Germanna’s Amazon link to get there. The Foundation will get a referral fee for anything you purchase. The link is […]
German Embassy staff visit Fort Germanna
The Culpeper Star-Exponent ran a front-page story on the German Embassy’s visit to Germanna on Saturday, November 11, 2017: Germanna Foundation President Marc Wheat got to share one of his prized possessions with a few members of the German-American team from the German Embassy Saturday. Holding the 36 by 36-inch framed map while standing […]
German Embassy Staff to Visit Germanna
The Germanna Foundation is honored to host a team from the German Embassy on Saturday, November 11, 2017. This German-American team set out from the German Embassy in Washington, DC on Monday, October 30 for a multi-state road trip. The purpose of the tour is to meet people in their hometowns around the region, to […]
Germany Trip 2018 Deadline
The time has come for those intending to travel to their ancestral villages in Germany in 2018 to send their deposits to reserve a place. Space is limited, and many have already sent deposits. The itinerary is tentative, and is completed only when tour leaders Barbara Price and E.K. Mello know the roster of travelers and which villages their ancestors emigrated […]
Germanna-Named Places in America
Did you know that 79 populated places/towns in America bear Germanna Surnames spread over 31 states? And there are over 1,100 places like public and private buildings, reservoirs, schools, and churches in America with a Germanna name? To name a few on our list of 1,170 entries: Yager Stadium at Washburn University in Kansas Willhoit […]
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