Michael Werner (born 1965 in Frankenthal, Germany) is a publisher of Pennsylvania German publications and writer of Pennsylvania German articles, prose and poetry. He is the founder and publisher of the only existing Pennsylvania German newspaper, Hiwwe wie Driwwe.
Werner was raised in the Palatinate (Germany). Members of his family had emigrated from this area to the U.S. in the 19th century. He studied at the University of Mannheim and holds a Master's degree in General Linguistics, Germans Studies and Sociology. His Ph.D. Thesis is dealing with Pennsylvania German literature. Werner is working as publishing director of a B2B publishing house in Mainz (Germany). He lives in Ober-Olm.
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In 1993, he became a student of C. Richard Beam (1925-2018), director of the Center for Pennsylvania German Studies at Millersville University (PA). In the same year, Werner started a private "Archive for Pennsylvania German Literature" in the Palatinate, Germany. In 1996, the newspaper Hiwwe wie Driwwe was founded by him in Ebertsheim, Palatinate (Germany). Actually, it is being published bi-annually. Since 1998, he has been a member of the jury of the oldest Palatine Dialect Writers Contest in Bockenheim an der Weinstraße, Palatinate (Germany). In 2003, Michael Werner was one of the co-founders of the German-Pennsylvanian Association and the first president of the association (until 2010). Since 2008, Werner invites speakers of Pennsylvania German to give presentations about the language and culture in Germany. In 2013, "Hiwwe wie Driwwe" started a cooperation with the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University (PA). The editorial office was moved to Pennsylvania in 2015. In 2017, Werner donated his private archive of Pennsylvania German literature and folk life to the Mennonite Research Center at Weierhof (Palatinate, Germany), where it will be presented to the public as "Deutsch-Pennsylvanisches Archiv" (German-Pennsylvanian Archive). In 2020, he was one of the founders of Groundhog Lodge No. 19 in Bockenheim (Palatinate, Germany). In 2021, Werner published a German trip advisor to the Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
His journalistic work over a period of three decades inspired two German cinema documentaries: "Hiwwe wie Driwwe 1" (2018) and "Hiwwe wie Driwwe 2" (2024).
| # | Year | Book | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2012 | Michael Werner: Es globbt beim Sammy in der Nacht (Original: Es klopft bei Wanja in der Nacht, deutsch, 1985) | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 1 |
| 2. | 2013 | Walter Sauer: Es Haus, wu der Jack gebaut hot (Original: The House that Jack built, english, 1853) | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 2 |
| 3. | 2014 | Earl C. Haag: Der Schtruwwelpitter. 2nd Edition (Original: Der Struwwelpeter, deutsch, 1845) | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 3 |
| 4. | 2014 | Michael Werner: Kumm, mer gehne Baere yaage (Original: We're Going on a Bear Hunt, English, 1989) | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 4 |
| 5. | 2016 | Rachel Yoder: Penny Olive | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 5 |
| 6. | 2016 | Walter Sauer: Ebbes weeich die Watzelkinner | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 6 |
| 7. | 2017 | Mark L. Louden: De glee Brins (Original: Le petit prince) | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 7 |
| 8. | 2018 | Mark L. Louden / Walter Sauer / Michael Werner: Die Erschte Dausend Wadde in Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 8 |
| 9. | 2018 | Rachel Yoder & Douglas Madenford: Davey Applebutter | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 9 |
| 10. | 2019 | Michael Werner: En neier Sound im neie Land - 32 New Songs in Pennsylvania Dutch | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 10 |
| 11. | 2019 | Walter Sauer: Die Schtori vum Peter Haas (Original: The Tale of Peter Rabbit, englisch, 1902) | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 11 |
| 12. | 2021 | Michael Werner: Hiwwe wie Driwwe - Der Pennsylvania ReiseVERführer. Mit einem Grußwort von Malu Dreyer. | Hiwwe wie Driwwe Series No. 12 |
