Today the Orange County Review had an article in it about the Germanna Foundation, written by Amber Galaviz: The Germanna Foundation: digging into history With a new executive director and a new archaeology center under roof, the Germanna Foundation is making substantial progress in sharing and understanding the critical role the 18th-century eastern Orange County settlement […]
Germanna Foundation eyes the future
The Germanna Foundation’s new Executive Director was recently featured in Culpeper Star Exponent article written by Clint Schemmer: Germanna Foundation eyes the future The Germanna Foundation is no longer just a genealogy organization. The Virginia-based nonprofit has broadened its mission beyond representing the descendants of the Germans who settled the colony’s early 18th-century frontier. The […]
Archaeology center under roof at Germanna
An article about the new Hitt Archaeology Center appeared in the Culpeper Star-Exponent written by Clint Schemmer: An archaeologist’s dream is rising along Germanna Highway where it crosses the Rapidan River. As passing motorists can glimpse, an imposing two-story structure is under roof beside the Germanna Foundation’s Brawdus Martin Visitor Center. When complete, it will […]
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 […]
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 […]
Thanks Virginia Commonwealth University
We treated Dr. Bernard Means and his VCU archaeology field school students to a pizza party picnic at the Fort Germanna/Enchanted Castle excavation site on Thursday, July 28th – the final day of VCU’s field work at Germanna this summer. Our seasonal staff, under the direction of Germanna’s archaeologist, Eric Larsen, Ph.D., and this season’s […]
I Dig Germanna Archaeology Workshop
Craig Wolford (center right) and Gil Kenner (center left) received their certificates of completion, trowels, and “I Dig Germanna” T-shirts for successfully completing our first I Dig Germanna Archaeology Workshop 18-20 July from Dr. Eric Larsen, Germanna staff archaeologist (l) and Germanna COO Steve Hein (r). Working under the supervision of Dr. Eric Larsen and […]
Digging into the past at Germanna
Front page news during conference and reunion weekend! By Amber Galaviz, published in the July 14, 2016 edition of the Orange County Review. For the first time in 20 years, excavation work is being done at the Fort Germanna/Enchanted Castle archaeology site on the eastern end of Orange County. The Germanna Foundation hopes to discover […]
Meet our archaeology field season staff
We’re pleased to welcome aboard these seasonal archaeology staff members to help Germanna’s archaeologist, Eric Larsen, Ph.D., with new excavation work at the Fort Germanna and Enchanted Castle site, and to supervise the VCU field school students later in the summer. Thank you to all of our members and supporters for making this possible. […]
Editorial: Unearthing stories of Germanna’s past
Thousands of people pass the place every week, yet far too few know of its international significance. Some remarkable moments in American history happened at the Germanna historic site, on State Route 3 in Orange County. Some of those stories are told, briefly, by exhibits in the Germanna Foundation’s Brawdus Martin Visitor Center where the […]
Germanna Foundation gets $250,000 boost
By Amber Galaviz, Orange County Review With a recent $250,000 donation, the Germanna Foundation hopes to begin the construction of a new archaeology research laboratory and artifact storage building near the Brawdus Martin Germanna Visitor Center in Locust Grove. The donation comes from Dr. Michael D. Frost, of Kansas City, MO. as a continuation of his […]
Thank you for giving to Germanna during the 2016 Community Give
Thank you to our supporters and members for donating to Germanna during the Community Give online fundraising campaign this week! Your donations will help support our archaeology field work this year. The Community Give experienced some technical issues during the day on Tuesday that prevented some supporters from giving, and the campaign was […]
New DAG Officers
The Germanna Foundation is proud to be a charter member of the Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft (DAG) Siegerland-Wittgenstein e.V., which cultivates mutual understanding and cultural exchange between Germans and Americans. They are famous for hosting an annual Thanksgiving dinner for Americans studying or working in the Siegerland-Wittgenstein area! This week, the new officers were elected. They are, […]
Dr. Michael Frost Accepts Virginia General Assembly Joint Resolution
Michael D. Frost, Ph.D., of Mission Hills, KS and owner/CEO of Continental Steel Fabrication Company of Kansas City, MO receives a ceremonial copy of a Commonwealth of Virginia General Assembly Joint Resolution commending the 300th anniversary of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition, led by Frost’s ancestor Alexander Spotswood, who was Lieutenant Governor of […]
High School Film about Germanna Wins Contest
The German III class of Charlottesville High School, Virginia, won first place for its short film production entitled, “Germanna.” As part of the University of Virginia’s German Film Festival event, the Film Shorts contest invited high school and university students from around the State to make and submit a three to eight-minute film in German. […]
Actor Neil Patrick Harris Learns of His Germanna Roots on PBS
We were excited to watch the Germanna Foundation’s nation-wide television debut of the “The Pioneers” episode of the PBS series Finding Your Roots. In “The Pioneers” episode, five-time Emmy Award winner Neil Patrick Harris was surprised to learn that one of his ancestors – Gertrud Stuell, an ancestor many Germanna descendants have in common with […]
PBS Series “Finding Your Roots” Episode to Feature Germanna Descendant
This week’s episode of the PBS Series Finding Your Roots, the “Pioneers,” will reveal some interesting German ancestry information about one of the episode’s stars. The show airs for the first time on Tuesday evening, Feb 23rd. Watch it, and then watch here for more… You can also check out the Germanna Facebook page. For […]
Archaeology Field School Coming to Germanna this Summer – Part-time staff positions available
The Germanna Foundation is pleased to announce that the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) will conduct a field school hosted by the Germanna Foundation at its Fort Germanna and Enchanted Castle archaeological site in Locust Grove. VCU students (and others who apply and enroll through the University) will learn excavation techniques and help the Foundation’s archaeologist […]
Germanna Archaeologist Dr. Eric Larsen to Speak at German-American Heritage Museum
Please join Museum and Germanna Foundation members, friends, and others for an interesting lecture concerning the history and archaeology of Germanna on Thursday, March 17th, at 6:30pm at the German-American Heritage Museum in Washington, DC. This lecture series is sponsored in part by Germanna Trustee Sven Eric Utsch, and Dr. Larsen’s position is underwritten by a […]
German Script Course Available
The Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, PA, is accepting applications for an intensive course at Moravian College on learning to read German script. Now in its 46th year and the longest-running course of its kind in the country, the course will run from June 1 through June 14, and is being taught by Dr. Paul Peucker, Lanie Yaswinski, […]
Fort Germanna featured in D.C. museum exhibit
The Fort Germanna story is one of rich history, not just for Orange County, but nationally. Built in 1714, Germanna was the first German settlement in Virginia, making it a fitting exhibit at the German-American Heritage Museum’s “German Entrepreneurship” series on view in Washington, D.C. through March. (Story published in the Orange County Review by […]
Unearthing Germanna’s History
Orange County Review staff writer Amber Galaviz visited Germanna just before the holidays. Here’s link to her front page article in the Orange County Review.
Charting our Pathway to Discovery
Germanna staff archaeologist Dr. Eric Larsen began a new site topographic mapping survey project at Fort Germanna in October. The original site grid was established some 30 years ago and focused on the architectural footprint of Alexander Spotswood’s Enchanted Castle. Today, thanks to the generosity of Dr. Michael D. Frost and his wife Ginger, who […]
Germanna Foundation Supports Rapidan River Clean-up
For the past few months, the Germanna Foundation facilitated the clean-up efforts of another area non-profit group called StreamSweepers. StreamSweepers is a youth job corps program focusing on river restoration. Each summer about a dozen area young adults are trained and paid a stipend to go out on our area rivers to perform ecological assessments and […]
Germanna Archaeology Site in the News
Many of our 2015 reunion attendees had the opportunity to visit the Fort Germanna/ Enchanted Castle archaeological site during an open house with staff archaeologist Dr. Eric Larsen and special guest Dr. Bernard Means from Virginia Commonwealth University’s Virtual Curation Lab. Orange County Review reporter Amber Galaviz covered the event. Read her “Digging Germanna” article […]
