"Liewer gott im himmel drin loss uns deitsche was mir sin."

That's Pennsylvania Dutch for "Dear God in Heaven, leave us Germans what we are."

It took local Whitehall artist Dulci Krautsack about 25 hours to paint an Austrian and Pennsylvania Dutch Coat of Arms bearing these words. The designer of this hex sign is Ed Yost, another Whitehall resident.

The red eagle, "ein roter adler," in the middle of the hex sign is a representation for Austrian heritage, specifically Burgenland, and the wording is Pennsylvania Dutch implying the need to maintain traditional ways, Yost said.

Krautsack and Yost are not only neighbors but also share a common heritage, which they discovered only recently when Krautsack volunteered to paint Yost's design.

Working together, they realized they both had Austrian roots. Krautsack's mother's parents were from Zahling, Austria, and Yost's father's parents were from Burgenland, Austria. These two provinces "are about only 20 minutes apart from each other," Yost said.

Krautsack has been painting her entire life. Even though she attended The Baum School of Art, her first teacher was her mother, she said.

Krautsack wanted to paint the coat of arms '"cause Ed is so cool," she said, laughing. "And I never did a hex sign before. It just inspired me to get back into painting again or any kind of artwork. It felt good to paint again."

Yost went to Austria in 2011 to visit his grandmother's house. While there, he got many ideas for this design.

"I went to see where my grandmother grew up, and on that homestead, they had grapes on the fences. So that's where I got the idea," he said.

Hex signs have two meanings. "Magic, and then there's also decorative. They used to call it fancy barns," said Krautsack, explaining most hex signs are used on the family's barn.

"To me it's just a representation of my heritage," Yost said, adding he hopes his work will allow him to "[share] the information with my brothers and family so they'll know when they see it what their heritage is."

Both Krautsack and Yost hope to hang the hex sign on Yost's property sometime in the spring with a small unveiling celebration for the community. For more information, contact Krautsack at dulcikraut@rcn.com. Yostcan be contacted at edwardyost@rcn.com.