Item Info

Scripts/Text: Fraktur; German script
Language: German
Physical Description: Leaf
Material: Wove paper; watercolor; ink
Transcription:

Tauf=Zedel.

[in center]
Werthes Kind, leb so auf Erden, \ Daß du mögest selig werden. \ Ich will Gott auch für dich bitten; \ Daß er dich nach dieser Zeit \ Nehme auf in Salems Hütten, \ In die frohe Ewigkeit. Amen. \ Dies wünsche ich, dein allergetreuste Tauf= \ Goten Elisabeth Käster \ zu Kästers haus \ Den 2 Tag Christmond im Jahr 1811 \ bist du getauft worden bey der Heiligen Tauf zu \ [blank]

[in upper left]
Gott geb den Glauben diesem \ Kind, Und wasch ihm ab all seine \ Sünd; Und geb ihm seinen guten \ Geist –

[in upper right]
Zu thun was Gott der Vater \ heißt. Nach seinem Willen hier \ zu leben; Nach dieser Zeit das \ ew’ge Leben.

[in lower left]
Den Pfenning nimm und hab von \ mir, Einen bessern woll’ Gott ge= \ ben dir. Thu Vater und Mutter \ gehorsam seyn –

[in lower right]
Thu gern bey frommen Leuten \ seyn. Der schlimmen Leuten nimm \ dich nicht an, So kannst mit Gott \ in Himmel gan.

[on reverse]
Tauf=Zedelein 
 

Translation:

Baptismal Note.

[in center]
Worthy child, live on earth so that you may become blessed. I will also ask God for you that he may take you after this time into Salem’s huts, into joyful eternity. Amen. This I wish, your most faithful godmother Elisabeth Käster of Käster’s house. On the 2nd day of December in the year 1811 you were baptized in the holy baptism at [blank]

[in upper left]
May God give faith to this child, and wash all sins from it. Grant to it his good spirit

[in upper right]
to do what God, the father, commands, to live according to his will. After this time eternal life.

[in lower left]
This penny take and have from me, a better one God wants to give to you. Be obedient to father and mother –

[in lower right]
Enjoy being with pious people. Do not take up with evil people. Then you can go to God in Heaven.

[on reverse]
Little baptismal note.
 

Category: Baptismal Wish (Taufwunsch)
Media Type: Letterpress Prints
Source: Rare Book Department
Notes:

Hand-colored; hand-lettered; printed form. The main text in Fraktur is within rectangular frames in the center of the document and in the corners. The sponsor’s name and the date are infilled in German script. The central text frame is surrounded by a wreath of leaves and flowers. Along each side are two additional stems of flowers. Creases in the document and remnants of sealing wax on the reverse indicate that this document was once folded into a small triangle and then sealed. This type of Taufzettel was primarily a Bernese Swiss tradition by which the godparent(s) of the child presented him or her with a coin wrapped in a specially folded piece of paper that contained a baptismal greeting with the sponsor's signature and date of the baptism, along with a four-part ornamental border. When folded, the paper would resemble a four-pointed star with elements of the printed design having come together into a central square design.

Associated Names: Käster, Elisabeth
Bibliography:

Don Yoder, "The European Background of Pennsylvania Fraktur Art," in Cory M. Amsler, ed., Bucks County Fraktur (Kutztown, Pa.: Pennsylvania German Society, 1999), pp. 31-32.

Klaus Stopp, The Printed Birth and Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans (East Berlin, Pa.: Russell D. Earnest Associates, 1997) vol. 1, pp. 20-21.

Creation Place County: Creation Place Note:Based on design characteristics
Region/County:[Bern]
State/Province:[Switzerland]

Creation Year (Single Year or Range Begin): ca. 1810
Image Dimensions Width: 16 cm
ShelfMark: FLP 1035
Creator Name: Anonymous - Decorator
Anonymous - Scrivener
Anonymous - Printer/Publisher