Surely you've heard of Amana refrigerators, freezers or the
original Amana Radar Range microwave made at The Amana Colonies in Iowa but
have you heard of the Amana Woolen Mill, Amana Meat Shop or Amana
Furniture?
All are Amana Society Inc. owned
businesses, along with many more!
We had hoped to see Amana previously so this trip we
defnitely planned to visit The Amana Colonies in Eastern Iowa.
The Amana Colonies are set on 26,000 acres of
fertile Iowa farm land settled by the “Inspirationist” religious communal group
in 1855 but originally founded in Germany in 1714.
Seven villages comprise the Amana
Colonies:
Amana, West Amana, High Amana,
Middle Amana, East Amana, South Amana and Homestead.
On July 27, 2014, we arrived at the Amana Colonies RV
Park
and signed up for two nights. It's
a huge campground with 460 sites with friendly staff and excellent facilities
plus it's a Passport America Park so very reasonable!
We went back to the Amana Visitor Center, a
historic barn in Amana, the main village, to pick up literature on places to
visit in Amana, special events and the history of the Amana Colonies.
We were told that a guided van tour of 6 of
the 7 villages the next morning had 2 spaces left and decided that $18 per
person for 4 hours was a good deal since it would take us inside historic
places not normally open.
Then, using the village map, we drove around the streets of
Amana Village and were very impressed by the tidiness and flowers everywhere
and the very beautiful 159 year old architecture of many buildings.
Many of the Amana original communal buildings
are still intact and in use now as restaurants, B&Bs, shops, craft shops,
galleries, wineries, candy shops and a brewery.
Amana's history began in 1714, 300 years ago, in Germany with
a religious movement called “Pietism” which advocated faith renewal through
reflection, prayer and Bible study.
The
founders of the “Community of True Inspiration” believed that God, through the
Holy Spirit, would inspire individuals to speak.
In the strict Lutheran religion of the day,
these people were persecuted and forced to move to the more liberal state of
Hessen in Germany.
Persecution
continued, along with drought and an economic depression.
Searching for a new home with religious
freedom, the Inspirationists came to America in 1844 and bought 5000 acres near
Buffalo, New York starting the new communal pacifist community of
Ebenezer.
Eventually as the successful community grew, they needed more
farmland and in 1855 they moved to
the Iowa River Valley, where fertile soil, stone, wood and
water were available at a reasonable price to build their dream community. They first built the village of Amana, with a
church, a school, a farm, multi-family communal residences and communal
kitchens with dining rooms. They brought all the mill and other machinery from
Ebenezer. The community owned all the
land and buildings and supplied the members with all their basic needs from
soap to firewood including housing, medical care, meals, all household
necessities and schooling for the children.
Men and women were assigned jobs by the village elders. No one received a wage and none was needed!
Soon six more villages were formed, each with similar
facilities to Amana and each an hour's oxcart trip apart.
Amana Colonies' population was up to 1500
people!
Each village had its own meat
shop and smokehouse, bakery, winery, apiary, gardens and orchards.
Farming and wool and calico production
supported the community plus many enterprises like furniture and clock making,
flour mills, cloth and clothing manufacture, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, bakers,
dairy farmers and more.
Excess products
were sold to markets outside the Colonies.
Children attended school 6 days a week, year-round until the
age of 14.
Boys were assigned jobs on
the farms and girls worked in the kitchens or gardens.
Day to day life for everyone revolved
around
worship, home, work and school.
All meals were prepared by women in the 60
communal kitchens located throughout the seven villages, serving three meals a
day plus a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack!
The kitchens were well supplied by the village smokehouse, bakery, ice
house, dairy, gardens, orchards and vineyards.
Members attended church in each village's meeting house 11 times a week
for different services.
The churches
were very plain, built of brick or stone with plain glass windows, no stained
glass, no steeple, plain pine benches and chairs for the elders.
 |
| A painting in the Museum of the community walking to Church |
It all worked according to plan for 89 years until 1932 when
a disastrous farm market amid the U.S. Great Depression caused the Colonies
major business problems plus member's dissatisfaction with the rigid communal
system and seeing their children leave for the outside world, caused the
community to make the “Great Change.”
Members voted to maintain their community and especially, their Church,
but stop the communal life.
The Amana
Society Inc. was established as a profit-sharing corporation owning all the
land and buildings and continuing the farming, forestry operations, the mills
and larger enterprises.
For the first
time, people could own their own homes, start their own business, have family
meals together and have a job paying a wage.
Private enterprises were encouraged!
Today,
Amana Colonies'
residents are about 2/3 Church members although others are welcome to live and
own businesses.
Almost all of the homes
and businesses in all the villages are very well kept and colorful with lots of
flowers, trees and fresh paint!
The
Amana Heritage Museum in Amana village is a great place to start a visit and
gives a very good look at the history of the Colonies and preserves several
historic buildings. There is a good video shown also.
The lily gardens alone are worth the visit!
The next day, our van tour started right at 9 AM at the
Visitor Center with Andrea, a schoolteacher, as our very knowledgeable guide
and driver.
We started at Bill Metz' Tin
Shop in Middle Amana where we first toured his family's original communal home
with 3 generations living together.
Many
of the older furnishings are still intact, including an original Amana Radar
Range.
Then we went down into the
basement to his tin shop.
Bill collects
old tinware, particularly those made in Amana.
He is a retired sheet metal worker with Quaker Oats Co.
He produces and sells many cookie cutters,
cake pans and twisted tin Christmas icicles!
He has many amazing antique machines for forming the tinware into
products.
Bill was very happy to explain the tools and how everything is made.
Everyone really enjoyed this visit!
Next was the Middle Amana Communal Kitchen, the only intact
original communal kitchen left in the Colonies preserved from 1932 by the last
kitchen boss' family. We saw many of the handmade utensils used as well as the
very long wooden sink with piped in water.
A wood stove and a large metal oven completed the appliances.
Large tables and benches seated the 30-40
people that ate in each communal kitchen. The kitchen boss “kuechenbaas”
oversaw the work of the 4 other women cooking the meals.
Check this actual weekly menu!
They also made cheese and butter and canned
many foods.
Nearby is the village Cooper
Shop where barrels were built.
The 3
rd stop was the High Amana Store from
1857 which is preserved close to its look in the early 1900s, including a
patterned tin ceiling! Part of the “merchandise” is museum type items not for
sale while many other goods, particularly those made in Amana, are
featured.
Preserves, candy, candles,
mustards, Bill Metz' cookie cutters and much more are for sale.
Amana's Millstream Brewing Co. cream soda and
root beer are sold ice cold in an old fashioned sliding lid cooler and they are
delicious!
Many non-electronic toys,
books for kids and aprons and other clothing items are for sale.
The store clerk certainly looked the part
too! All the profit from the store goes to the Amana Heritage Society which
runs the Museum and other historic buildings.
Next stop was the West Amana Meeting Hall from 1871 which was
a place of worship until 1970.
Now it is
the studio of well known watercolor artist, Michele Maring Miller. Her watercolors are quite realistic and
colorful. Our favorite was a great
canvas of 5 cranes silhouetted in early morning light. Some of her landscapes
and old Amana homes are also very nice.
The church hall has been restored very nicely and separated into
Michele's studio and home. We liked her sofas, chairs and old church pews
placed so you could sit and look at the art too.
Amana Community Church in Homestead built in 1865 was our
final stop.
It's still in use today and
is totally plain inside with no decorations of any type.
The benches were brought from Ebenezer in New
York.
Several more benches for elders in
front plus a table and chair for the elder leading the service.
Andrea, our guide, is a member of the Amana Church and spoke
at length about the old services which sometimes lasted 2-3 hours and much of
that was spent kneeling on the bare wooden floor. Lots of hymns are sung a capella since no
musical instruments were allowed. Today, the services are shorter and mostly on
Sundays. English is used in some
services since some of the younger members are not fluent in German while some
other services are still completely in German.
The Amana Society Inc. today owns and operates at least 17
businesses including the Woolen Mill, the Meat Shop, the Furniture Shop, The
Little Red Wagon toy store, Amana Holiday Inn,
Amana Colonies RV Park, a power utility, Amana Farms Inc. and Little
Amana General Store and Woolens on I-80.
Amana Appliances still operates its factory at Middle Amana but the
Society sold it to Raytheon in 1965, then in 1997 it was sold to Maytag, who in
turn sold it to Whirlpool Corp., the current owner.
The Amana Farms
operation is the Society's biggest business today (and in the past) growing
mostly corn, soybeans, oats and alfalfa.
They raise Angus, Gelbvich and Charolais cattle. In the old days they grew barley for
beermaking and livestock feed, potatoes, onions, rye, beets, turnips (ugh!),
tobacco and broomcorn and willows for making brooms and baskets. Early in its history, the Colonies built the
Mill Race, a 9 mile long hand dug canal from the Iowa River, to power their
various mills. A small hydro plant still exists near the Woolen Mill.
The next day, July 28, we went to the Amana Woolen Mill built
in 1857, manufacturing fabrics and blankets continuously for over 150 years!
This mill was originally powered by water wheels. The 1923 fire that started in
and destroyed the flour mill also destroyed part of the mill but the current
weaving building escaped the fire.
It
was restored in 1999 after a straightline windstorm took off the 3
rd
floor and roof.
Some of the looms and
other equipment were brought from Germany to Ebenezer then to Amana and were in
use until 1955!
72 cotton and 35 wool
blanket designs can be produced at the mill.
In 1982 production began on an Army contract for 380,000 blankets.
The looms ran 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
for two years!
Several new Swiss Sulzer
computerized looms were installed last year and can weave a blanket in 3
minutes! Unfortunately, the looms were down for maintenance that day.
 |
| Although not operating we enjoyed taking pictures of the weaving looms |
After the mill, we went across the road to Millstream Brewing
Co. where you can see part of their brewing and bottling line.
It was only 9:30AM so it didn't seem appropriate to sample their beers but we bought a couple Millstream pint
glasses with pictures of the brewhouse with a water wheel for use at home.
If you can judge quality by their cream soda,
the beer is no doubt equally good!
Next
trip!!
Driving to Homestead on the way out, we went to AJ's Copper
Garden and Metal Art Studio to see more of the painted copper flowers, birds,
butterflies and other odd creatures.that they make by hand.
We bought a large butterfly for our garden that has exquisite
color and detail and a long copper rod for mounting. There are some really fabulous pieces here
along with a lot of whimsy! We got a
quick tour of their studio and saw the making of the giant lily flowers that they
are famous for!
We're just hit the tip of the iceberg in this post since
there is much more to do and see in Amana.
There are 2 live theatre companies, more than a dozen art studios, 2
wineries, a bunch of antique stores, many restaurants, some the German family
style with long tables and much more!
And, religiously speaking, the Amana folks must be doing something right
to survive and flourish for 300 years!
We'll be going back again someday and we highly recommend a visit to
Amana! Willkommen!
* much information from Wilkommen—Your Free Guide to the
Amana Colonies newspaper
There are at least 15
towns in the United States that celebrate their Dutch heritage with various
Dutch Days-type celebrations, spring tulip festivals or Dutch Christmas
Sinterklaas arrivals. Some towns like
Holland, MI, Pella, IA and Lynden, WA have permanent year-round Dutch-theme
buildings, theme parks or events.
According to the 2000 U.S. census, there are at least 5 million U.S.
citizens of Dutch ancestry! 
The highlight event
of the year in Pella is the 3 day Tulip Festival on the first weekend in May at
the height of the tulip blooming season!
Tulip Time began in 1935 and regularly adds more exciting events and
venues! 
