Episode 24 of Cloister Talk Live!, “A Mystical Heritage: A Conversation with Allen Viehmeyer and Candace Perry of the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center,” Examines One of Pennsylvania’s Most Fascinating Spiritualist Communities

Das erste Teil der geistlichen Gesenge /von den wercken Jhesu Christi: und erstlich Von seiner gnad-reichen zukunfft und heiligen Menschwerdung. 1566. This volume has a Schwenkfelder provenance, having been inscribed by Maria Hübner in 1794. VR12-8 / L2004.0999.311. Courtesy of the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania.

Mysticism is a central (if complex, debated, and often misconstrued) part of the religious DNA of early German Pennsylvania.  The theology and devotional practice of the Schwenkfelders—a German-speaking sectarian group present in the colony—connected to early modern European mystical tradition in important ways, and the religious community practiced a rich manuscript tradition.  This episode of Cloister Talk Live! takes us to the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center to dive into the Library’s astounding rare book, manuscript, and decorative-art collections.  Curators and scholars Candace Perry and Allen Viehmeyer introduce us to the institution’s holdings, consider how they relate to the material culture of other Pennsylvania German groups, summarize the state of Schwenkfelder studies today, and suggest new directions for the field.

Listen to “Cloister Talk Live! A Mystical Heritage: A Conversation with Allen Viehmeyer and Candace Perry of the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center” here:

https://anchor.fm/cloistertalk/episodes/Cloister-Talk-Live--A-Mystical-Heritage-A-Conversation-with-Allen-Viehmeyer-and-Candace-Perry-of-the-Schwenkfelder-Library--Heritage-Center-e1335dq