{"id":7807,"date":"2026-07-02T17:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T17:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ata-divisions.org\/GLD\/?p=7807"},"modified":"2026-07-02T17:52:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T17:52:17","slug":"eine-erklarung-the-first-translation-of-the-u-s-declaration-of-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ata-divisions.org\/GLD\/eine-erklarung-the-first-translation-of-the-u-s-declaration-of-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cEine Erkl\u00e4rung\u201d \u2013 The First Translation of the U.S. Declaration of Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently took a daytrip to Philadelphia and visited an intriguing exhibition called The Declaration\u2019s Journey<\/em><\/a><\/span> at the Museum of the American Revolution. The show traces the evolution and global impact of the Declaration of Independence since 1776.<\/p>\n

One of the first things a visitor to the exhibition encounters is a rare original broadside copy of the first translation of the Declaration of Independence into German. (Broadsides are large printed pieces of paper that were intended to be hung in public spaces as a way of spreading news.) It was likely printed only a day or so after the publication of the English version, the so-called Dunlap broadside<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Only two copies of the original German broadside translations of the Declaration of Independence are known to exist. The copy on view at the Museum of the American Revolution is on loan from Gettysburg College<\/a><\/span> in Pennsylvania. This document was discovered in 1984 in the Gettysburg College archives by Professor Karl J. R. Arndt (at that time professor of German at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts). He later established its authenticity as an original broadside from July, 1776. (The other known original copy<\/a><\/span> is owned by the Deutsches Historisches Museum<\/span><\/a> in Berlin.)<\/p>\n

Stumbling across this early translation of the Declaration of Independence piqued my interest in the role of translation as well as the prevalence of non-English languages during the earliest days of the U.S.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Declaration was immediately translated<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Professor Arndt, the first announcement of Congress\u2019s Declaration of Independence in the Colonial press was not in an English newspaper. Rather on Friday, July 5th Henrich Miller\u2019s German-language newspaper, the Pennsylvanischer Staatsbote<\/em>, ran the following announcement, scooping the English-language press:<\/p>\n

   Philadelphia, den 5 July.\nGestern hat der Achtbare Congress\ndieses Vesten Landes die Vereinig-\nten Colonien freye und Unabhaengige\nStaaten erklaeret.\n   Die Declaration in Elglisch ist\njetzt in der Presse; sie ist datirt,\nden 4ten July, 1776, und wird heut\noder morgen im druck erscheinen.<\/pre>\n
Given the obvious spelling mistakes, this announcement was certainly a last-minute rush job. The following edition of the biweekly Staatsbote <\/em>on Tuesday, July 9th contained the full German translation of the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n
To get a sense of how quickly this German translation was turned around, let\u2019s quickly review the events in Philadelphia in early July, 1776.<\/p>\n