Perhaps nothing symbolizes Pennsylvania Dutch culture more than the hex sign. Some believe hex signs were first added to barns as a kind of painted prayer, usually for blessings and as protection from ...

Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Dr. Alfred L. Shoemaker, celebrated authority on Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs, noted these (hex ...

Among the highlights of this year’s 64th Annual PA Dutch Folk festival was an academic study done by Patrick Donmoyer, a young yet long established historian of our PA Dutch/German folk culture, who ...

Lisa Molendini led a Dutch hex sign painting workshop on Tuesday at Alternative Alchemist, Hazle Twp. The Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of creating colorful round hex signs to adorn their barns and ...

It was in her late 20s when Rachel Yoder realized she didn’t know much about her heritage. She yearned to feel connected to her roots, and for Yoder, art was a natural way to do so. “It was my ...

A barn star, also commonly referred to as a hex sign, painted by Eric Claypoole. Barn stars are a decorative tradition dating back to the early 1800s among Pennsylvania Dutch farmers. If you’ve spent ...

LLENTOWN, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Dutch influence on the state’s Lehigh Valley shines through in any number of ways: the food, the festivals, the language. • A part of the culture’s very soul, however, ...

If you're lucky enough to have visited some parts of Pennsylvania Dutch country, you'll be familiar with what historians call "hex signs." These are large, often colorful, usually geometrical, and ...