In the late 17th century, German-speaking Mennonites and Quakers in the Rhine region faced religious persecution and economic challenges. William Penn’s Pennsylvania colony offered a haven of tolerance, attracting settlers with promises of land and liberty. The Frankfurt Land Company, a group of Quaker investors, purchased 15,000 acres from Penn to establish a settlement for German immigrants. They appointed Francis Daniel Pastorius, a scholar and lawyer from Sommerhausen, to oversee the venture. Pastorius arrived in Philadelphia in August 1683, securing land for the arriving families. On October 6, 1683, the ship Concord docked, carrying 13 families from Krefeld—approximately 33 individuals—who became the founders of Germantown, the first permanent German settlement in America.