A recent visit to the Hans Herr House has brought about many comparisons that can be made with the readings we have done on colonial men and women's roles and the living conditiions of laboring Philadelphians. The Hans Herr House is the oldest building in Lancaster County, dating to 1719, and is located in southern Lancaster County. This paper will make connections between what we saw on our visit and our readings on colonial men and women's roles and laboring Philadelphians. The field trip to the Hans Herr House gives us a feel for the meaning of "home" for colonial families.
             The people who came to the Hans Herr House were the first European settlers of Lancaster County, mostly of Swiss-German origin. One reason that they came to America was that they were fleeing religious persecution for their beliefs. In this case, the European settlers fled from Switzerland as William Penn promised freedom in America. Another reason the settlers came to America was for economic improvement. Life was believed to be "better" in America than in Europe, especially because American farmland was known as good fertile farmland.
             The tour of the Hans Herr house gave us a good impression of a colonial home. From the outside, one can notice the steeply pitched roof, which was built that way because of the snow and ice that could build up and possibly damage the house. Also, the fireplace was built in the center of the house so that the heat can be circulated throughout the household, a common resemblance to the English colonial house. In this German house, we entered through the kitchen, and we could see that there were no hallways, which were believed to waste space.
             Unlike the English house, there was a lack of symmetry in this German house because one could see that some of the windows did not line up with the rest of the house. This lack of symmetry proved the fact that to the Germans, the function was taken over form. We entered through ...