Songs and Stories of a Civil War Hospital Performance in Gettysburg

Songs and Stories of a Civil War Hospital is a FREE performance located in downtown Gettysburg at the Christ Lutheran Church. If you're unfamiliar with the area, you'll find the historic Christ Lutheran Church located at 30 Chambersburg Street in downtown Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. If you know where Lincoln Square is, it's located a 1/2 block to the west.

The performance is a poignant, one-hour program that tells the authentic history of the Civil War hospital at historic Christ Lutheran Church. The performance includes:

* Live Civil War era music and sing-alongs.
* Readings from the personal journals of a nurse and wounded soldier.
* Civil War poetry of Walt Whitman.
* Air-conditioned and heated.
* Accessible for all.
* No admission fee.

The performance days and times vary. If you're interested in attending a free show, you'll want to check out the published seasonal schedule on their website --- HERE.

According to their website:

"Each performance includes a violin prelude, welcoming comments, a brief church history, accounts of Chaplain Howell's death and a local citizen's escape into the church bell tower, first-hand accounts of the Christ Church hospital as told by a wounded soldier and a care-giving nurse, Civil War poetry by Walt Whitman, passages from Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, and music by well-known local musicians."

We attended one of these performances last year while visiting Gettysburg and absolutely loved it. One of the cool things about it is that they dress-up in Civil War period clothing and those who are doing the presentation are very good! The presentation lasted about an hour and we learned quite about about the church's history and the role it played during the Civil War in Gettysburg.

The performance is FREE to attend. However, they do accept donations and I highly recommend that you donate whatever you feel is appropriate. If you're looking for parking, we parked near the downtown area on a side street with paid-metered parking and then walked the 2 blocks to the church.

After the performance you'll have the opportunity to buy one of the music CD's and/or published book about the history of the church during the Civil War. Both are very reasonably priced, I believe around $10.00 or so.