Thomas Zimmerman

Thomas Cadwallader Zimmerman (January 23, 1838 – November 13, 1914) was a Pennsylvania German writer and translator, notable for his translations of English language classics into the Pennsylvania German dialect. He was also the editor of the Reading Times newspaper in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Life and career Zimmerman was born in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania in 1838. There he attended public school until he was thirteen years old, and was apprenticed as a printer with the Lebanon Courier. Upon completion of his apprenticeship, he went to Philadelphia to work at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Although he is sometimes referred to as "Colonel," he saw no active service during the war.

Zimmerman was quite active in public life. He was trustee of the Board of the State Asylum at Wernersville, director of the Reading Free Public Library, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Superintendents and Trustees of Insane Asylums and vice-president of the Pennsylvania Chautauqua Association. He was one of the founders of the Pennsylvania German Society, and of the Historical Society of Berks County. Because of his association with the Reading Times, in which his translations were regularly published, he was able to reach a large number of readers in the Berks County region.

His most notable translations included Clement C. Moores' "Twas the Night Before Christmas", Martin Luther's "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" ("A Mighty Fortress Is Our God)" and Friedrich Schiller's "Die Glocke" ("Song of the Bell").

Publications The caverns of Luray (1881) Schiller's "The song of the bell"; and other poems (1896) Lebanon: a bit of retrospect, reminiscence and sentiment (1898) In memoriam: the Hon. Daniel Ermentrout: Historical Sketch Delivered before the Historical Society of Berks County, Pa., November 14, 1899 Olla Podrida (1903) The Pennsylvania German as a Formative Influence in the Upbuilding of Our Commonwealth and in the Development of Eastern Pennsylvania (1939 reprint)