Serbin: Texas Wendish Heritage Museum

Landscaped walkways in front of building with sign saying Texas Wendish Heritage Museum
Drawing of a three-masted clipper ship at full sail

The ship “Ben Nevis” was chartered by the wends for their voyage to Texas (Texas Wendish Museum)

Portrait of Pastor Jan Kilian

The group’s leader, Pastor Jan Kilian. (Texas Wendish Museum)

A wooden trunk with German writing on the front

Trunk that made the voyage with provisions from Germany (Texas Wendish Museum)

Small log cabin with a covered porch and no windows

Pioneer log cabin at the museum.

Men with a team of horses and road grader on the back

Wends at work building County Road 158 (Texas Wendish Museum)

Interior of a church painted blue and white with marbling on the pillars

Inside St. Paul Lutheran, one of Texas’ painted churches.

Man in a suit and top hat and woman in a dark dress with a white veil covering her face followed by a line of women with large floral headdresses

A Wendish wedding train with the bride and groom at the top, which is still practiced according to old tradition, 1931. (Bundesarchiv, Image 102-11632 / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Woman wearing a flowered shawl decorating eggs

Demonstrating the Wendish tradition of painting eggs. (Texas Wendish Museum)

The Texas Wendish Heritage Museum tells the story – and preserves the heritage – of Pastor Jan Kilian and the Wends who bravely sailed to Texas in pursuit of a better life. Exhibits include folk clothing and wedding dresses from Lusatia, furnished log buildings, pieces of farm equipment, and a number of rare books and manuscripts in Wendish.

Texas Wendish Heritage Museum

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