Product Code Database
The Amana Colonies are seven villages on located in Iowa County in east-central Iowa, United States: Amana (or Main Amana, German: Haupt-Amana), East Amana, High Amana, Middle Amana, South Amana, West Amana, and Homestead. The villages were built and settled by German Radical Pietism, who were persecuted in their homeland by the German state government and the Lutheran Church. Calling themselves the True Inspiration Congregations (),
Reprinted: they first settled in New York near Buffalo in what is now the town of West Seneca. However, seeking more isolated surroundings, they moved to Iowa (near present-day Iowa City) in 1856. They lived a communal life until 1932.
For eighty years, the Amana Colony maintained an almost completely self-sufficient local economy, importing very little from the outside industrial economy. The Amanians achieved this independence and lifestyle by adhering to the specialized crafting and farming occupations that they had brought with them from Europe. Craftsmen passed their skills and techniques on from one generation to the next. They used hand, horse, wind, and water power, and made their own furniture, clothes, and other goods. The community voted to form a for-profit organization during the Great Depression, the Amana Society ( Amana-Gesellschaft), which included the Amana Corporation.
Today, the Seven Villages of Amana are a tourist attraction known for their restaurants and craft shops. The colony was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the seven villages in order of population was as follows:
/ref>
/ref>
/ref>
/ref>
/ref>
/ref>
The Community of True Inspiration (Amana Church) continues to worship in the Middle Amana meeting house, though "Special services, Sunday school, and fellowship activities are held in the larger Main Amana meeting house."
To spread their beliefs, the group led by Rock and Gruber traveled through Germany, Switzerland, and the Dutch Republic. The group became known as the Community of True Inspiration, and followers were called Inspirationalists. The Inspirationalists faced the opposition of the governments of the German states because they refused to serve as soldiers and would not send their children to Lutheran public schools. Adherents to the faith were imprisoned, flogging, and stripped of their possessions. To escape persecution, many Inspirationalists moved to Hesse, the most liberal German state at the time. Here, the group attracted more adherents.
Gruber died in 1728 and Rock followed in 1749. Left without an instrument, the Inspirationalists' numbers declined during the subsequent decades. Within a span of a few months starting in 1817, Michael Krausert, Barbara Heinemann, and Christian Metz were all named instruments. Although Krausert soon left the church, Metz and Heinemann were able to revive interest in the Community.
Heinemann retreated from the Community's affairs in 1823, making Metz the sole leader of the church. The Community continued to face persecution from German states for their refusal to serve as soldiers or utilize public schools. In the 1830s, Metz conceived of the notion of leasing a large area of land as a refuge for the Community. They first leased land from a cloister near Ronneburg, then from the Arnsburg Abbey. They expanded to Engelthal Abbey in 1834, and managed all of their land holdings in common. It was at these estates that the philosophy of communal life began to grow within the Community. By the late 1830s, the Community was prospering.
More than 800 members of the Community immigrated to Ebenezer from Germany. The Community founded a "provisional constitution" in 1843 that defined the intentions of the community, which they called the Ebenezer Society. All lands and buildings were to be held in common, and prosperous settlers were expected to pay community expenses. The initial plan was that, after some time, the land would be divided among the people according to their contribution of money and labor. However, leaders saw that the disparity in wealth, skills and age would make it difficult for all to purchase a portion of land—the community would fall apart as a result. Therefore, the constitution was amended on October 23, 1850, to make the Community exclusively communal.
The purchase was adequate for the first 800 emigrants. However, the success of the community brought new settlers, and by 1854, it was apparent that a larger tract of land was needed. Furthermore, the growth of the nearby city of Buffalo concerned church elders, who thought that it might be a bad influence. Buffalo's growth also increased nearby real estate prices, making an extension to Ebenezer financially unfeasible. Metz met with Community leaders on August 31, 1854, to discuss the situation, and the group sent four men (including Metz) to search for a new home out west. The new Kansas Territory seemed like an ideal location, so the group of four traveled across the new lands. However, they did not agree on an appropriate location.
Two elders were then sent to the state of Iowa to examine the large government land grants. Finding appropriate lands near the Iowa River, they returned to Ebenezer to encourage purchase. The Inspirationalists sent four men to purchase the land and all holdings in the vicinity. The first village in what would become the Amana Colonies was laid out in 1855 ().
One early problem was the lack of rail access; the nearest station was in Iowa City away. However, in 1861 the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad built a railroad station in nearby Homestead. Recognizing the need for a rail connection, the Community purchased the entire village of Homestead ( Heimstätte) (). This brought their land holdings to : in timberland, in cultivated fields, in grazing land, in settlements, and in vegetable gardens. Most of the land is in Iowa County, with approximately in Johnson County.
By 1862, five more villages were laid, bringing the total number to seven:
Each village had a church, school, bakery, dairy, wine-cellar, post office, sawmill, general store, and between forty and one hundred houses. Every able-bodied man was expected to serve in the fire department, and each village had its own fire department. Most houses were two stories and built with local sandstone of an unusual hue. They are mostly square with gable roofs.
The last of the 1,200 Inspirationalist settlers from New York arrived in 1864. By 1908, the Community had grown to 1,800 and owned over $1.8 million in assets.
Each village was governed by a group of seven to nineteen elders. Decisions was made for each village by the group of elders, led by one of the trustees. This governing board was known as the Bruderrath. Elders were selected based on their piety and spirituality. Werkzeug had the authority to appoint elders, but at times when there were no such individuals, they were selected by the Great Council. The Bruderrath had the authority to appoint foremen for each industry. Individuals could petition the Bruderrath if they sought more money, a larger house, or a lighter workload. The Head Elder had the highest level of authority in each village, even over the Bruderrath trustee.
Each community member was provided with an annual sum, with men receiving $40 to $100 a year depending on their career, women receiving $25 to $30 a year, and parents of children receiving an additional $5 to $10 per child. This money was expected to be spent at village stores. Members who failed to budget adequately would be admonished by the Community. If the member did not mend his ways, they could be expelled by the community. Members who were expelled or voluntarily left the Community would receive all of the money they had invested into the common fund plus interest.
The community had fifty-five communal kitchens: sixteen in Amana, ten in Middle Amana, nine in Homestead, six in South and West Amana, and four in East and High Amana. The kitchen boss (Küchebaas) was tasked with kitchen operations: cooking, serving, preserving, and chicken husbandry. Kitchen personnel were appointed by the Bruderrat. Communal kitchens were usually large, two-story structures with an attached residence for the Küchebaas. Kitchens typically had a large brick hearth stove, a wood- or coal-burning oven, and a sink. Though kitchens originally had to bring water from the nearest well, they were the first buildings to be connected to the colony waterworks. Kitchens were named after the Küchebaas. The communal kitchen concept eroded some time around 1900, as married residents began to eat in their own homes. Food was still cooked in the communal kitchens, but housewives would take the food home. Kitchen staff and single residents still ate in the communal kitchens.
Each kitchen operated individually and had different practices. However, menus were largely standardized across the colonies to prevent any residents from receiving more than their fair share. On Saturday nights, pork sausages or , boiled potatoes, cottage cheese with chives, bread with cream cheese, and streusel were served. The noon meal on Sunday was rice soup, fried potatoes, creamed spinach, boiled beef, streusel, and tea or coffee. Menus changed with the seasons; for example, more beef and pork was served in the autumn and winter because it was easier to keep fresh meat.
Amana was known for its hospitality towards outsiders. Members would never turn a person in need away. They fed and sheltered the homeless who passed through on the train. Some were hired as laborers. They received good wages, a permit home for the length of their stay and three meals a day in the communal kitchen. The homeless were not the only outside help. Amana hired many outside laborers to do industrial and agricultural jobs. They worked in the woolen shop, the calico-printing shop or the many other workplaces.
The Amana Society, Inc., corporate heir to the land and economic assets of communal Amana, owns and manages some of farm, pasture and forest land. Agriculture is an important economic base today just as it was in communal times. Because the land was not divided up with the end of communalism, the landscape of Amana still reflects its communal heritage. In addition, more than 450 communal-era buildings stand in the seven villages as vivid reminders of the past. On June 23, 1965, the National Park Service deemed the Amana Colonies worthy of distinction as a National Historic Landmark. When the National Register of Historic Places was founded a year later, the Colonies were automatically listed.
Amana Farms is home to Iowa’s largest privately held forest. Amana Farms has built a anaerobic digester with funding from the Iowa Office of Energy Independence, which produces fertilizer, heat for buildings, and methane for generating electricity. The digester processes organic waste streams from industrial partners such as Genencor International, Cargill and the International Paper Cedar River Mill, as well as manure, thereby reducing local methane emissions.
In 1947, the company produced the first commercial upright freezer. Two years later, the Amana Society sold off the Electrical Department to an investment group organized by Foerstner. Renamed Amana Refrigeration, Inc., the company grew to manufacture refrigerators and air conditioners. The Raytheon purchased Amana Refrigeration on January 1, 1965, although the Amana division was mostly autonomous. Amana produced the first practical commercial microwave oven in 1967. The division was sold to Goodman Global in 1997 and then sold to Maytag in 2001. It became part of the Whirlpool Corporation when it purchased Maytag in 2006. Whirlpool sold the Amana, Iowa refrigerator plant property to Wramia001, a Chicago-based limited liability company, in October, 2020 for $92.6 million dollars. Amana will continue to manufacture Amana, JennAir, KitchenAid, Maytag and Whirlpool refrigerators at the plant, built in 1940, under a long-term lease agreement.
Amana High School in Middle Amana was established after a 1935 bond election.Hoehnle, Peter. Amana Colonies: 1932-1945. Arcadia Publishing, 2016. , 9781467115407. p. 108. The school closed in 1991.Hoehnle, Peter. Amana Colonies: 1932-1945. Arcadia Publishing, 2016. , 9781467115407. p. 110. Clear Creek–Amana Middle School was previously in Middle Amana. Home. Clear Creek–Amana Middle School. February 23, 1999. Retrieved on October 24, 2017. "3023 220th Trail Middle Amana, Iowa 52307"
|
|
