Kelpius Society

12/08/2025

Kudos to new executive director Sara Stevenson! The Friends of the Wissahickon manages a number of historic sites within the City of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park system, including the original late 17th century Kelpius settlement.

PHILADELPHIA – (December 8, 2025) – Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW) is pleased to announce that Sara Stevenson has been named executive director, effective January 12, 2026. She currently serves as...

09/27/2025

If you missed it, here's the recorded presentation given by Timothy Grieve-Carolson, PhD about Johannes Kelpius, the "Wizard of the Wissahickon."

If you've visited Wisashickon Valley Park, you're probably familiar with the story of Johannes Kelpius, but what you have heard might be more fiction than fact.

Get the real story of the Wissahickon's famed hermit, here at our recent Valley Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emWZ2ERIKbQ

Sponsored by Univest Financial

📷Adam Martin

09/18/2025

🍂 Join us this fall on Thursdays for our Fall Lecture Series! 🍂

In September, October, and November, we will be hosting three lectures focusing on different stories of Ephrata. The first of these lectures will be given by Assistant Professor Timothy Grieve-Carlson TOMORROW about an Ephrata Cloister ghost story! 👻

October's lecture will be given by our Curator Brad Smith about historical mysteries of Ephrata Cloister. The lecture in November will be given by Author Terry Barkley. He will be speaking about Snow Hill, an offshoot of the celibate community of Ephrata.

To attend all three of the lectures it is $40/person and $30/ECA members. The Fall Lecture Series will be available in-person and online.

Registering in advance is required! To register, stop by the Visitor Center or call us! You can purchase tickets in-person, or online through our website.

For more information call 717-733-6600 or visit www.ephratacloister.org

09/05/2025

🍂 Join us this fall on Thursdays for our Fall Lecture Series! 🍂

In September, October, and November, we will be hosting three lectures focusing on different stories of Ephrata. The first of these lectures will be given by Assistant Professor Timothy Grieve-Carlson about an Ephrata Cloister ghost story! 👻

October's lecture will be given by our Curator Brad Smith about historical mysteries of Ephrata Cloister. The lecture in November will be given by Author Terry Barkley. He will be speaking about Snow Hill, an offshoot of the celibate community of Ephrata.

To attend all three of the lectures it is $40/person and $30/ECA members. The Fall Lecture Series will be available in-person and online.

Registering in advance is required! To register, stop by the Visitor Center or call us! You can purchase tickets in-person, or online through our website.

For more information call 717-733-6600 or visit www.ephratacloister.org

09/19/2024

https://fow.org/event/myths-legends-hermits-and-bridges-of-the-wissahickon-with-stan-kozakowski-and-michael-bridges/

Meeting at Historic RittenhouseTown Kiosk Back by popular demand! Plus a Live Performance of Kelpius’ Hymns. We will explore some of the mysticism, mythology, religion, legends, history, art, music, and […]

01/25/2024

Books about Kelpius have long been available at Ephrata Cloisters Book Shop. Worth a visit too to the restored campus of the Cloisters.

09/09/2023

The following essay, researched and written by Shannon McRae, a professor at SUNY Fredonia, is an excellent review of what's reliably known about Kelpius and his community and provides an especially good, detailed discussion of the religious and spiritual background of the group. Published online by the World Religions and Spirituality Project.

Kelpius CommunityKELPIUS COMMUNITY TIMELINE 1667: Johan Kelp was born in Denndorf, a German-speaking region in Translyvania.1681 (February 28): King Charles II granted a land charter in America to William Penn, in repayment of a debt owed to Penn’s father.1683 (April): Francis Daniel Pastorius pur...

04/10/2023

Located not far from the Kelpius site, this bridge was completed around 1905, some 200 years after Kelpius and his followers settled in the Wissahickon.

Philadelphia circa 1906. "Hermit Lane Bridge on the Wissahickon." To view this image in "High-Resolution" please click on the link below.

https://www.shorpy.com/node/13298?size=_original

02/02/2023

Religious studies scholar Kirby Richards published this essay, "From Transylvania to Pennsylvania: Johannes Kelpius", in the Yearbook of German-American Studies, Volume 55 (2020), at the University of Kansas, for The Society for German-American Studies. The Kelpius Society believes Kirby's essay will stimulate renewed discussion of Kelpius and his impact on the historical and cultural development of Philadelphia, and American society more generally.

08/04/2022

There's still time to sign up for tomorrow night's lecture on Johannes Kelpius! Tickets for The End of the World: Johannes Kelpius' Beliefs and Cosmology are available at http://ow.ly/ippt50K9Y1F.