Culture: Barns, Decorative Art, Music
Barns in this area, with their distinctive decorations, are widely admired. Nowhere else can you find as many fine barns of the type known as “Pennsylvania standard” barns. Their signature features are symmetrical rooflines and a forebay that extends over the stable doors and very often beautiful geometric motifs on the forebays. These are purely decorative adornments that some believe are ancient symbols for protection and good luck. Although they are often called “hex signs” they have nothing to do with witchcraft or spells.
You will see more of these great decorated barns in Lehigh County, Northampton County, and part of Berks County—the region largely settled by Germans and Swiss of the Lutheran and Reformed faiths. Amish settlers to the west and English settlers to the south did not decorate their barns.
Barns in this area, with their distinctive decorations, are widely admired. Nowhere else can you find as many fine barns of the type known as “Pennsylvania standard” barns. Their signature features are symmetrical rooflines and a forebay that extends over the stable doors and very often beautiful geometric motifs on the forebays. These are purely decorative adornments that some believe are ancient symbols for protection and good luck. Although they are often called “hex signs” they have nothing to do with witchcraft or spells.
You will see more of these great decorated barns in Lehigh County, Northampton County, and part of Berks County—the region largely settled by Germans and Swiss of the Lutheran and Reformed faiths. Amish settlers to the west and English settlers to the south did not decorate their barns.
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Barn decorations are related to Fraktur, an elaborate form of illuminated folk art and lettering that flourished between 1740 and 1860. Similar designs can be found in drawings, watercolors, birth and baptismal certificates, book plates, and marriage and house blessings. Rosettes, tulips, birds such as the distelfink, and hearts are very common motifs used by regional folk artists in decorative work and everyday household items. Young girls learned to embroider linens with fine decorative stitches using the same motifs.
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Music was central to the lives of German immigrants in this region. Music was taught in school and Sunday School. Singing schools were established in most communities, where contests were held at Christmas-time in schoolhouses, churches, and farmhouses. Secular music was actively performed in homes, taverns, and private social clubs. Simple songs about work and life or ballads about mournful events were sung while working on the farm. During harvest season the most popular musical event in rural Pennsylvania was the hoedown. These community barn dances were held when a farmer could finally put down his hoe, clear the threshing floor of the barn, and invite relatives, friends, and neighbors to eat, drink, and dance the night away.
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