Amana Colonies
A Brief History of the Origins of the Amana Colonies in Iowa[1]
Tracing its origins to an eighteenth century German Pietist sect called the Community of True Inspiration, the Amana Society of Iowa was one of the longest lived communal societies in the United States when it disbanded in 1932.[2] Today known as the Amana Colonies, the story of the Community of True Inspiration began in the province of Hesse, Germany. In 1714, this small group held the belief that God still spoke through individuals as He had in the Old Testament of the Bible. They called themselves “Inspirationists,” believing God “inspired” people through His divine spirit. During its early years of existence, the Community of True Inspiration experienced success as the Werkzeuge (the movement’s inspired leadership) traveled from town to town and province to province spreading the ideas of Inspiration. At the heart of the Inspirationist movement in Germany was the literate but independent craftsman. During these early years the movement did not operate as one community, as the name might suggest. From 1714 until the 1830s, the membership lived in relative isolation from one another, with groups of Inspirationists scattered across Germany, Switzerland and France. In the 1820s after experiencing a long period of decline, the membership again increased and began to relocate onto several leased estates within the liberal German province of Hesse. It was also at this time that the word Die Gemeinde or Community began to be associated with and used by the membership to describe their growing numbers. The Community relied on the existing structures in Hesse to house its membership, provide space for worship services, and cultivate a growing economic identity.[3]
A new phase for the Inspirationists began in the early 1840s, as the Community faced economic hardship and made the decision to relocate. A committee departed for America to search for a new home for the Inspirationists.[4] In 1843, the Inspirationists began a migration to America, settling in Western New York on land purchased by the committee. The move not only brought the Inspirationists to America, it brought about the building of the “Community” implied in the movement’s name. In Germany, the focus had been on building the faith and increasing the number of faithful. The move to America allowed the Inspirationists to construct a physical community which could sustain the membership in their daily lives, occupations, and most importantly their faith. By 1845, 800 Inspirationists had made the journey across the Atlantic, with more to follow over the next 38 years. It was during this new American phase that the Community began practicing communalism, not as a religious principle but as a way to strengthen its membership’s interdependence. The Inspirationists soon established themselves on over 6,000 acres of contiguous New York farm land, constructing six villages, and incorporating themselves under the name Ebenezer Society.[5] As the Inspirationists embraced communalism, they also began to use laborers hired from the surrounding area to supplement their own growing workforce.[6] With the switch from proselytism to communalism came the need for a ready source of labor to support the building of a community. Increasingly the Inspirationists came to rely on these hired hands as a major source of labor.
In 1855 the Community again relocated, this time to the young state of Iowa. Incorporating itself under a new name, the Amana Society, the Inspirationists continued the communal organization begun in New York by establishing seven villages on 26,000 acres.[7] In 1864 the last of the Ebenezer Society’s land in New York was sold, the final Inspirationist group departed for Iowa, and the last of the seven Iowa villages, Middle Amana, was established. The Community’s population steadily increased from 1,228 in 1864 to 1,466 in 1870, and finally its peak of 1,813 in 1881.[8] Jonathan Andelson, professor at Grinnell College in Iowa and a leading scholar on the Amana community, has documented 1883 as the end of the migration period for the Inspirationists. Though immigrants from Germany continued to arrive after 1883, their numbers were small and not from the original German membership established between 1714 and 1842. Andelson states in his demographic study that as early as 1867, “the Community was well on its way to having a stable economy, and its members a secure and comfortable existence.”[9]
The existence of the communal Amana Society lasted until 1932, when the community members voted to disband the communal system. To learn more about the Amana Colonies I recommend the Amana Heritage Society, whose website is listed as a link on this blog. Today the Amana Colonies still exist, both as a tourist destination and a community. The Community of True Inspiration of the past has become two entities, the Amana Church Society and the Amana Society, Inc. Many of the people who live here today have a link to the communal and religious past, but just as many do not. The people who call the seven villages of the Amana Colonies home today come from different backgrounds and religious faiths. Neither the Amana Church Society nor the Amana Society, Inc controls the lives of the people who live here but they do play a role in the community, just as churches and businesses in any other community. Though the communal history of the Amana Colonies ended in 1932, the community itself lives on. The area is significant historically and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a destination for tourists, both locally, nationally, and internationally. Most importantly the Amana Colonies is a living community, whose history continues to unfold.
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[1] This history is an excerpt from the author’s research paper entitled, The Communal System of the Amana Colonies: Impact of Hired Labor, 1884-1932, which focuses on the use of outside laborers and their importance to the success of the communal system. The author is currently conducting further research about individual hired hands who worked for the communal Amana Colonies. From the research a database will be made available and will include biographical information, work history and other information on these individuals.
[2] When the Community of True Inspiration was founded in 1714 in the German province of Hesse, it was one of many Pietistic faiths that emerged in 18th century in Europe. The followers of this particular sect used the term “community” to represent an expression of community rather than a physical place. The expression was best manifested as a state of mind which could be achieved by the individual follower of the faith. The Inspirationists community then had many members, all living in various other communities scattered across Germany, Switzerland, and France. Inspirationists believed in the word of God as the ultimate authority in ones’ life. The word of God could take either written form, such as the Bible or as directly reflected in the name of the sect; the word could actually be spoken and delivered from God though the use of inspiration by an individual believer. A distinction was made between “true” inspiration and “false” inspiration. To learn more about both the Community of True Inspiration and its history see, Inspirations Historie volumes I-III 1714-1850 written by Gottlieb Schuener and translated by Janet Zuber (Amana Church Society, 1978, & 1987) and “A Brief History of the Community of True Inspiration” Iowa Journal of History and Politics 2 (April 1904) by Charles F. Noe.
[3] Inspirationist, Gottlieb Schuener served as the Inspirationist’s historian until his death in 1897. Schuener compiled the history into a series of books entitled Inspirations Historie. The books were printed at the Amana Print Shop and distributed to members. In 1828, the term “Die Gemeinde” appears in the Inspirations Historie, which translates to “The Community” and after this year the term was used often to refer to the Inspirationists. In addition to the use of the term Die Gemiende, Inspirationist Gottfried Mann began to keep an official record of Community deaths in 1829, further emphasizing the use of the word and the growing sense of a unified community.
[4] Long persecuted in Germany, the Inspirationists had many reasons to leave their homeland, but the most valid reason for leaving in the eyes and hearts of the Inspirationists was an inspired testimony delivered on July 28, 1842 that stated, “Your goal and your way shall proceed westerly to the land that is still for you and your faith. I am with you and will lead you through the ocean. Hold Me and awaken Me with your prayers when winds or tribulation arise… Thus, four should now prepare themselves…” Leaving from Bremerhaven on September 17, 1842 and arrived 38 days later in New York Harbor, the search committee actually included five people: Christian Metz, a fourth generation Inspirationist and deliverer of the above testimony, arguably one of the Community’s most influential leaders; Wilhelm Noe; Gottlieb Ackerman; Georg Weber; and Ferdinand Weber, Weber’s eleven year old son. The newly revised, Christian Metz: German-American Religious Leader and Pioneer by F. Alan DuVal details Metz’s life.
[5] Under the name “Ebenezer Society,” the Inspirationists established 6 villages in New York and Canada between 1843 and 1852. The villages were established in the following order: Middle Ebenezer, Upper Ebenezer, Lower Ebenezer, Canada Ebenezer, Kenneburg (in Canada), and New Ebenezer. The best source to date on the Inspirationists years in New York is Frank J. Lankes’s book, The Ebenezer Community of True Inspiration.
[6] In the records of the Community, hired hands were known by many names including Fremden and Daachleener, but the term Taglöhner was most commonly used to signify this community labor resource. The term literally translates to “day laborer” in English and suggests an itinerant worker. The term Taglöhner appears most frequently in the surviving Amana Society’s financial communal records and is the common term used today to refer to hired hands. The term Fremden translates to “stranger” and appears less commonly in the financial records of the Society. The term Daachleener is most likely a phonetic spelling of Taglöhner. An excellent source on the Amana German dialect is Weber, Philipp. Kolonie Deutsch. Ames, IA:Iowa State University Press, 1993.
[7] Six of the seven Iowa villages, much like their New York counterparts were named for the incorporated Society. Only the village of Homestead which existed prior to 1855 and was purchased by the Society in 1861does not contain Amana in its name. The other six Amana Society villages (Amana, South Amana, West Amana, High Amana, East Amana, and Middle Amana) were founded between 1855 and 1862.
[8] Document sources for population statistics, Linder, I.H. and Andelson, J., both use numbers obtained from the Inspirationist’s chronicle, Inspirations Historie, by Gottlieb Schuerner. Between 1976 and 1987 the Amana Church Society, the descendent of the Community of True Inspiration, published three volumes of the Inspirations Historie translated to English by Janet Zuber covering the years 1714 through 1855.
[9] “A Demographic Profile of the Inspirationists Migration” Emigration and Settlement Patterns of German Communities in North America, edited by Eberhard Reichmann, Lavern J. Rippley, and Jörg Nagler, 1995, 61.