Who were the Salburgers?

The Salzburgers were a group of peaceful and hard working German speaking people from present day Austria. This group was being discriminated against by the King of Austria. The king gave the Salzburgers three months to leave their country. King George II, who was himself a German Protestant, offered the Salzburgers the opportunity to settle in the colony of Georgia. Upon arriving in Georgia, the Salzburgers settled a town they named Ebenezer, meaning “Stone of Help.”

New Ebenezer

However, this settlement was too far inland and located in an area that was too swampy with poor water. Many Salzburgers died during their first two years in Georgia. Eventually, the Salzburgers were given permission to relocate to a better location which they named “New Ebenezer.” Once they settled in this new town, they became some of the most successful and industrious colonists in Georgia. They are given credit for being the first group of Georgians to develop a water powered grist mill, a Sunday school, and an orphanage. They were also the only group to have any large scale success with silk production.

Loyalty

The Salzburgers remained strictly antislavery during the late colonial years and extremely loyal to the trustees. This was due to the help the trustees gave the Salzburgers during their immigration to the colony. It should also be noted that Georgia’s first Patriot governor, John Adam Treutlen, was a Salzburger. The town of New Ebenezer was damaged during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. However, the church they built in 1763 still stands today. It contains the longest running Lutheran Congregation in United States. Many of the Salzburgers’ descendants still live in the area they settled over 250 years ago. Today a summer camp is located on the site that was New Ebenezer.