Christopher Sower wasn’t just a printer. He was a force of nature in colonial Pennsylvania. Born in 1693 in Ladenburg, in the Palatinate region of what is now Germany, Sower brought a distinct blend of craft, faith, and political agitation to the New World. He arrived in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1724 with his wife and young son, Christopher. The younger Christopher would later carry on the legacy, but the father built the empire.
Sower was a generalist artisan. He could do it all. But his real calling emerged in 1738. That’s when he became the first successful printer catering specifically to the massive population of German immigrants in the colonies. The demand was huge. The need for German-language media was urgent. Sower stepped in to fill the void.
His press didn’t just churn out pamphlets. It produced a newspaper called Der Hoch-Deutsch Pennsylvaniaische Geschicht-Schreiber. He later renamed it Pennsylvaniaische Berichte in 1748. He also published Der Hoch-Deutsch Americanische Calender, an almanac that would have been essential for farmers and merchants. In total, his output exceeded 150 imprints. Most were religious texts in German. This included broadsides and, significantly, the first European-language colonial Bible printed in America in 1743.
Religion wasn’t separate from his business for Sower. It was the engine. He was a Pietist. This movement emphasized personal faith and moral living over rigid church structures. You can see this influence in every project he touched.
His activism went beyond the printing press. Sower urged his fellow Pennsylvania Germans to vote. This was a bold move. Many German immigrants were politically apathetic. Sower saw voting as a tool to keep pacifist and oath-denying Quakers in power. The Quakers opposed war and refused to swear oaths to the Crown. Keeping them in control aligned with Sower’s own values.
He lobbied for specific legislative changes. He wanted laws to stop the mistreatment of immigrants. He pushed for the dissemination of medical knowledge. He advocated for building hospitals. He fought to maintain German culture in a rapidly changing colony.
At the same time, he drew sharp lines in the sand. He opposed defense measures. He rejected compulsory Anglicization of Germans. He fought against slavery. He also turned his back on higher education and traditional religions. He disliked their forms, their sectarianism, and their professional clergy. To Sower, these institutions felt distant and corrupt. Pietism offered a cleaner, more direct path to God.
When Sower died on September 25, 1758, in Germantown, the work didn’t stop. His son, Christopher (1721–1784), took over. The younger Sower continued both the press and the principles. The German voice in Pennsylvania remained strong, printed and preached by the Sowers.
The influence of this early immigrant community is often overlooked in broad strokes of American history. We see the Revolution. We see the Constitution. We rarely see the quiet, stubborn work of people like Sower keeping a language and a culture alive through ink and paper. It wasn’t glamorous. It was necessary
