Eberbach, Germany & Ephrata, PA  USA

The Friends of Eberbach is an organization that celebrates the shared history, community and friendship between Eberbach, Germany and Ephrata, PA.  Its mission is to enrich the relationship between the two sister-cities. This is primarily accomplished through promoting visits and continued communication between the two towns and their surrounding locales.  The history of the sister-cities dates back to 1720 when Conrad Beissel, a native of Eberbach, emmigrated to Pennsylvania and settled in what is now Ephrata.  He and his followers founded the Ephrata Cloister. 

The two communities reestablished a relationship in 1976 and eventually began a GAPP student exchange ten years later between Ephrata High School students and students of the Hohenstaufen Gymnasium in Eberbach.