Wendish Pioneer Log Cabin in Serbin Texas

Serbin is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in southwestern Lee County, Texas, United States. Located about east of

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, it was originally established as Low Pin Oak Settlement (, ) by Sorbian (Wendish) immigrants to Texas in the mid-1850s. The community's name was changed to ''Serbin'', meaning "Sorbian land" in the Sorbian language, prior to 1860. The West Slavic

Sorbs Sorbs (; ; ; ; ; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Germany, states of Saxony and Brandenburg. Sorbs tradi ...

are distinct from the South Slavic

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

, although the names of the two Slavic ethnic groups have a common origin. The largest single migration of Sorbian immigrants to the United States settled in Texas, using Serbin as the "mother colony". On September 20, 1854, about 550 Sorbian

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

from congregations in

Lusatia Lusatia (; ; ; ; ; ), otherwise known as Sorbia, is a region in Central Europe, formerly entirely in Germany and today territorially split between Germany and modern-day Poland. Lusatia stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the eas ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, and

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

left for Texas under the leadership and pastoral care of

John Kilian John Kilian also , , (March 22, 1811 – September 12, 1884) was a Lutheran pastor and leader of the colony known as the Wends of Texas. Background John Kilian was born in Doehlen, in the Kingdom of Saxony. After school in Rachlau and ...

. Upon arriving in Texas, the people of present-day Serbin became the earliest members of the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

in Texas. St. Paul Lutheran Church, built in 1871, is a typical example of Wendish architecture and is still in full use; the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

is located above the altar, in the front balcony of the church, as seen in the photos of the interior. The Texas Wendish Heritage Museum is housed in Serbin on the St. Paul church grounds. Occupying three independent buildings including a former St. Paul parochial school building, the museum also has two outdoor exhibits of an intact

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

and part of a dogtrot house. Eventually, the Sorbian language in Serbin was replaced by German and English. Kilian even had the tombstone for his wife Maria carved in German in 1881, not Sorbian; the same was done for his stone in 1884. Neither of the two

Sorbian languages The Sorbian languages (, ) are the Upper Sorbian language and Lower Sorbian language, two closely related and partially mutually intelligible languages spoken by the Sorbs, a West Slavs, West Slavic ethno-cultural minority in the Lusatia region ...

is still fluently or regularly spoken in Serbin. According to the 2000 U.S. census, only 37 people in the 78942 ZIP Code area (which also includes Giddings and other nearby towns) spoke a

Slavic language The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...

other than Polish or

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

at home. File:Serbin historical stone marker.png, 1936 historical marker File:Serbin church - outside front.png, Front of St. Paul Lutheran Church File:Serbin church side view.png, Exterior view of the church File:Interior of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Serbin, TX.jpg, Interior of St. Paul Lutheran, seen from balcony File:Serbin church photographed from pulpit.jpg, Interior of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, seen from the pulpit File:Serbin Church interior at floor level.png, Floor level view of the altar File:Serbin-View of pulpit and altar.png, View of the altar and the pulpit File:Serbin church facing the rear.jpg, Interior of the church, facing the rear, showing the Bible verse in German, not Wendish/Sorbian File:Pastors of St Pauls Church at Serbin.jpg, Photos of the pastors who have served the congregation File:Maria Kilians gravestone.png, Maria Kilian's gravestone, in German File:J Kilians gravestone.png, John Kilian's gravestone, in German

References

External links

Serbin, Texas from TexasEscapes.com
* *
St. Paul Lutheran Church, Serbin, TXTexas Wendish Heritage SocietyWorldwide Wendish Connection
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Lee County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas Sorbian-American culture in Texas

References

Further reading

External links