This is an English version of a German lecture delivered by David Zersen, OhD. in Bautzen for the 200th birthday of Jan Kilian. The lectures were subsequently published in German in a book titled Jan Kilian (1811-1884) Pastor, Poet, Emigrant. Bautzen: Domowina Verlag, 2014. There is a huge difference between a bequest and a legacy. […]
Jan Kilian’s Legacy in the United States Read More »
This is the English version of a manuscript, written in English and translated into German by David Zersen, PhD. that was subsequently published as a chapter in a German language book as Der Einfluss der Umgebung auf den kuenstlerischen Ausdruck: Einblicke in die Poesie von Mato Kosyk aus der Sicht der neuen Welt by Peter
This manuscript by David Zersen, PhD. was subsequently published in the The Lutheran Forum as “The Impact in America of the Smallest Slavonic Nation” (2015) Most Lutherans immigrated to the United States as individuals or within a family group. However, there were interesting immigrations that arrived as large groups. Among the least known are the
The Impact In America Of The Smallest Slavonic Nation Read More »
A later version of this manuscript by David Zersen, PhD. was published as “An Isolated Texas Lutheran Scholar Living in Hope” in The Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly, Vol. 91, No. 2, Summer 2018. Recently an end-time mood caught me off-guard. Using the TV remote, during a manic moment of channel-switching, I chanced on a vivid,
Theological Struggles In A Texas Log Cabin Read More »
This article by Dr David Zersen was delivered as a conference paper in various formats as a draft for the Foreword to Five Centuries: The Wends and the Reformation. David Zersen, Managing Editor of Concordia University Press. In recent years, I’ve had several occasions to reflect on the significant impact that minority cultures have had
This article by David Zersen first appeared in the Fall 2017 issue of Concordia Historical Institute Quarterly. It is printed here by permission of the author. -0- People checking the back pages of denominational publications or church newspapers this year may find numerous invitations to join a study/travel-group to Luther-land. They are being encouraged to
Did Luther Really Say? Contexts for Luther’s Comments on the Wends Read More »
This article by David Zersen was originally published in Pomhaj Bóh, the Wendish language church newspaper in Lusatia. Statues of and memorials to Martin Luther are well-known in Germany and in the United States, but none of them were erected before the mid-nineteenth century. The first statue of Luther was erected in Wittenberg in 1821,
Austin’s Luther Statue Talks to Students – by Dr David Zersen Read More »
The following article appeared in the April 2015 Newsletter of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society in Serbin, Texas. Bronze Plaque Remembers Sorbian American War Heroes [Even while we continue to observe the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, we should also remember that 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of
Bronze Plaque Remembers Sorbian American War Heroes by David Zersen Read More »
The following article appeared in the April 2015 Newsletter of the Texas Wendish Heritage Society in Serbin, Texas. Jan Ernest Smoler and Jan Kilian were contemporaries, although not always friendly ones. As editor of a newspaper in Bautzen, Smoler published negative letters sent from the Serbin colony leading to years of tension between Smoler and
Eating the Way our Ancestors Ate By David Zersen Read More »
I’ve enjoyed translating and reflecting on addresses and sermons delivered by Pastors Herman Kilian and later Theodore Schmidt at the 75th, 100th and 125th anniversaries at St. Paul’s in Serbin. They encourage us to remember how sermon writing was different a century ago as well as to wonder what parishioners expected from a sermon. Today’s
Listening with Fathers and Mothers Read More »
