ZION'S HISTORIC EXHIBIT CHARLES H. MIEGEL The present pastor of Zion Independ- ent German Lutheran Church, Fritz O. Evers, following the free and liberal traditions of his predecessors, the illus- trious Julius Hofmann and Heinrich Scheib, celebrated Zion's 178th Anniver- sary, by arranging an interesting exhibit of the cultural work and influence of the men and women of German origin in our community. The exhibition was staged in the Adler Saal of the Parish House, and contained many objects, not only interesting but of historic value. In addition to many individual ex- hibits of family relics and heirlooms, prints, books and pictures, musical in- struments, household utensils, orna- ments, handicraft work, pieces of ar- tisanship, and the like, institutions such as the Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Historical Society, the Pratt Library and the Peale Museum, lent items from their possessions. This Society had a large number of objects typical of its work; among such were scrap books containing clippings from newspapers covering local G.-A. activities, programs and souvenirs of social organizations of days by gone; old files of the "Deutsche Correspond- ent" and "Baltimore Wecker," ancient Bibles and historical works; early cal- endars and publications of pre-Revolu- tionary date—illustrative of the period when more books and pamphlets, chief- ly of a religious nature, were printed in German than in English, among such some by Saur, the first American type- founder. The exhibition was officially opened by the late Thomas Foley Hisky, the then president of the Historical Society. During its continuance it was visited by over 1,200 persons, among these being the then German Ambassador, Dr. Hans Luther. In the photograph of the exhibit hall, appearing in this publication, there is shown in the lower right hand sector the exhibit of the Historical Society. On the table, right center, is seen a pat- ent of nobility granted to the Seemann brothers dating back to 1593. One of the last of their name, resident in Bal- timore City, Adoniram D. Seeman, cherished and preserved this interesting and beautifully illuminated parchment which had been brought to this coun- try by his progenitors in the fifties of the last century. The document is now housed in the Baltimore Museum of Art. The exhibit of the Turnverein Vor- waerts was graced by a bronze bust of "Vater Jahn" and by pictures of mem- bers and groups of the early days of turnen in Baltimore. In the center of the hall stood a model of the emblematical figure of the Pastorius Monument, the original of which stands in Germantown, now in- corporated into and as a part of Phila- delphia. Suspended from the ceiling, in front of the stage, hung the imperial banner which had been one of the deco- rations of the German House at the St. Louis Exposition. Directly in front of the stage was a piano lent by Thomas Foley Hisky. It was the work of his grandfather who came from Austria and who was a pio- neer piano maker of Baltimore. Two other events aided in making the week's celebration replete with the flavor of the historical. The first was a festival play, written and directed by Charles H. Miegel, depicting six epi- sodes in the 178 years of history of Zion Church. The pageant-play was written in German, with the exception of one episode. Its title was "Die Mauern von Zion," that is, "The Walls of Zion." The episodes included the founding of the congregation in 1755 by Pastor Johann Bager, an itinerant preacher who rode horseback from Pennsylvania six times a year to perform his religious duties. Other characters were: Dr. Fried- erich Wiesenthal, of local colonial and Revolutionary War fame; Baltimore's [42] first brewer, Daniel Barnetz, in whose home the founders met; and Master Woerschler, the school teacher of the children of the German settlers. Another scene in the play was the fire of March 30, 1840, which left stand- ing only the walls of the present church building. Another was that of the young, energetic, progressive and lib- eral preacher-schoolmaster, Heinrich Scheib, in 1844, demonstrating the new wonder of that day invented by Morse— the telegraph. The other event referred to, was the placing of the old Scheib School bell in a belfry shrine located in the church garden. For many decades this bell summoned the pupils of the school to their classes. Scheib School, an insti- tute pre-eminent among those of that period, founded in 1836, flourished un- til 1895. STATEMENT OF ASSETS JANUARY 15, 1939 Cash and investments owned by the Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland, are as follows: $   700—Baltimore City, General Improvements 5½%, due 1940. 2,000—Howard   County   Public  Improvement  Bonds  4½%,  due 1953. 3,000—State of Maryland Emergency Relief 4%, due 1943. $4,729.06 Cash in Equitable Trust Company—Savings Account. CHARLES F. STEIN, J®. Treasurer. [43]