Emmanuel or Emanuel Rondthaler (July 27, 1764 – June 6, 1847) was a distinguished German
Moravian minister, educator, and poet, widely recognized as the author of the first published poem in the
Pennsylvania German
The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate region of Germany ...
language. Rondthaler's poem, first published as "Abendlied," in
Philip Schaff
Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and ecclesiastical historian, who spent most of his adult life living and teaching in the United States.
Life and career
Schaff was ...
's ''Deutscher Kirchenfreund'' in August 1849, is known better as "Morgets und Owets" or "Maryets un Owets (Owetlied)." Rondthaler was a tutor at Nazareth Hall in
Nazareth, Pennsylvania
Nazareth is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough's population was 6,053 at the 2020 census. Nazareth is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 a ...
from 1832 to 1839. The ''Abendlied'' has been published in at least four versions of Pennsylvania German orthography, and in several English translations.
Rondthaler is buried in Nazareth Moravian Cemetery.
Earl C. Haag incorrectly identifies his birth year as 1815, but his 1847 burial record indicates that he was "aged 82 years, 10 months, 10 days."
References
*John Frederick Berg, ''Faith and Peace: A Sermon, Occasioned by the Death of the Rev. Emanuel Rondthaler, Pastor of the Church of the United Brethren, in Philadelphia. Addressed to the Congregations of the Moravian and First German Reformed Churches, December 10, 1848''
*Levin Theodore Reichel,
A History of Nazareth Hall, from 1755 to 1855: And of the Reunions of Its Former Pupils, in 1854 and 1855' (1855)
*William Cornelius Reichel,
Historical Sketch of Nazareth Hall from 1755 to 1869: With an Account of the Reunions of Former Pupils and of the Inauguration of a Monument at Nazareth on the 11th of June, 1868, Erected in Memory of Alumni Who Fell in the Late Rebellion' (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1869)
*
The Pennsylvania-German', Vol. I, No. 2 (
Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Lebanon ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,814 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
Lebanon was founded by George Steitz in 1740 and was originally named ...
) (April, 1900)
*
Transactions of the Moravian Historical Society, Volume 7' (1910)
oem titled "Morgelied"*Hogan Hacker,
Nazareth Hall: An Historical Sketch and Roster of Principals, Teachers and Pupils' (1910)
*
Harry Hess Reichard
Harry Hess Reichard (August 27, 1878 – August 26, 1956) was a Pennsylvania German writer and scholar.
Biography
Reichard was born in Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania.Rosenberger, p. 248 In 1901, he graduated from Lafayette College in Ea ...
,
Pennsylvania-German Dialect Writings and Their Writers: A Paper Prepared at the Request of the Pennsylvania-German Society' (1918)
*
Earl C. Haag,
A Pennsylvania German Anthology' (1988)
External links
Text of the poemfrom Richard Mammana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rondthaler, Emmanuel
1764 births
1847 deaths
German people of the Moravian Church
Writers of the Moravian Church