Louise Adeline Weitzel (December 2, 1862 – May 6, 1934) was an American writer of German descent. She was born in
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...
. Her family moved to
Lititz
Lititz is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Lancaster. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 9,370.
History
Lititz was ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
while she was still young.
Given the socio-cultural context in which she was born and raised, her work is unique, not only because of the content of her writing per se but also because she produced and published her texts as a woman and in her native German dialect (''Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch'') in the United States.
Her will, only 30 words long, left her $855 estate to the Moravian Home for Aged Women in Lititz.
Education and professional life
Louise A. Weitzel obtained her education at ''Sunnyside Kollitsch'' and at the ''Linden Hall Seminary'' for girls. Later she would work for local German-language newspapers where she ultimately found a vehicle to her voice as a poet. In 1908 she published the book ''A Quiver of Arrows: Poems by Louise A. Weitzel''.
Religious life
Louise A. Weitzel was an active member of the ''Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine''/
Moravian Church
The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...
fellowship, a
Christian reformist movement that preceded the German Protestant
Martin Luther
Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
in Europe by more than a century, with the work initiated by
John Huss
Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspi ...
and revived by Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf.
Poems
Die Grummler
En deel Leit grummle immerhie,
Sie grumble Daag un Nacht.
Uff Gut's un Scheen's in daere Welt
Gewwe sie gar kee Acht.
Im Summer iss es gans zu hees,
Im Winter gans zu kalt;
Die Yunge sin yo gans zu yung,
Die Alde gans zu alt.
Wann's reggert iss der Grund zu nass,
Wann's drucke, zu voll Schtaab;
Im Winter sin die Beem zu darr,
Im Summer zu voll Laab.
Die schmaerde Leit sin gans zu schmaert,
Die dumme gans zu dumm;
Die Schtrosse sin aa gans zu graad,
Die Leens sin gans zu grumm.
'S iss alles letz uff daere Welt,
'S macht niemand gaar nix recht;
Die Mensche traevle schtarck zu Hell,
'S iss alles lass un schlecht.
So Mensche mache kee Mischteecks,
Sie schtehne gans alle;
Sie sehne annere Fehler, yuscht
Ihr eegne duhn net seh.
– Louise A. Weitzel
* ''Bee''
* ''Der Viert Tschulei''
* ''Die Grummler''
* ''Die Sunn scheint aryeds wo''
* ''Mei Nochber hot en Reedio''
* ''Nackich''
* ''Vum Schiesse''
* ''Siggaretts''
* ''S Wedder''
* ''Was meent's''
* ''Wie zuvor''
* ''Wu fehlt's''
* ''Zu schtarrick''
See also
*
Pennsylvania Dutch
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), Palatina ...
*
Moravian Church
The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...
References
External links
Hiwwe wie Driwwe(Hiwwe wie Driwwe: die pennsylvaanisch-deitsch Zeiding / The homepage of the Pennsylvania German newspaper.)
The Pennsylvania German Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weitzel, Louise Adeline
1862 births
1934 deaths
Writers from Pennsylvania
19th-century American writers
Writers from Green Bay, Wisconsin
People from Lititz, Pennsylvania
American people of German descent
20th-century American writers
20th-century American women writers
19th-century American women writers