The Amana Colonies 300th Anniversary!

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