German Broadside of Declaration of Independence Printed in 1776
After the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, printers Melchior Steiner and Charles Jacob Sigismund Thiel of the Philadelphia firm Steiner and Cist produced a German-language broadside by July 8, 1776. Of the 2.5 million colonists, about 100,000 were German speakers. The German broadside used a gothic typeface for readability. Only two copies survive: one at Gettysburg College and one at the German Historical Museum in Berlin, acquired in 1993 for about $550,000. The museum's exhibition "Objects. History. Stories. Reviewing the Collection" displays it for America's 250th anniversary. The U.S. Embassy in Germany celebrated the semiquincentennial last week.
Key facts
- Declaration of Independence adopted July 4, 1776
- German broadside printed July 8, 1776 by Steiner and Cist
- 100,000 German speakers among 2.5 million colonists
- Gothic typeface used for German readers
- Only two surviving copies: Gettysburg College and German Historical Museum
- German Historical Museum acquired copy in 1993 for $550,000
- Exhibition 'Objects. History. Stories. Reviewing the Collection' at German Historical Museum
- U.S. Embassy in Germany celebrated semiquincentennial last week
Entities
Artists
- Melchior Steiner
- Charles Jacob Sigismund Thiel
- Daniel DeNicola
- Carolyn Sautter
- Wolfgang Cortjaens
- Alan Meltzer
- Thomas Rogers
Institutions
- Steiner and Cist
- Gettysburg College
- German Historical Museum
- U.S. Embassy in Germany
- U.S. Mission to Germany
- New York Times
- Smithsonian magazine
Locations
- Philadelphia
- United States
- Berlin
- Germany