The Amana Colonies of Iowa

We finally broke free of Illinois for a couple of weeks!! Woot!!! So we started heading west and stopped for a couple of nights in Amana, Iowa so we could see the Amana Colonies.

The Amana people began in the early 1700’s in Germany by two men, Eberhard L. Gruber and Johann F. Rock, who advocated faith renewal through reflection, prayer and Bible study. They believed that God, through the Holy Spirit, would inspire individuals to speak. This gift of inspiration was the beginning of a religious group known as the Community of True Inspiration, which began in 1714. But, they were persecuted for their beliefs. This, combined with economic depression in Germany forced the group to begin searching for a new home. They left Germany in 1843-44 and came to America, where they pooled their resources and purchased 5000 acres near Buffalo, New York, and began living a communal way of life. When they needed more farmland for their growing community, they then looked to Iowa, where land could be purchased for a low price. So, in 1855 they arrived in Iowa, where they named themselves “Amana” which means to “remain true”, and established 6 villages, each a mile or two apart. In 1861, the 7th village was established, giving them access to the railroad. In the 7 villages the residents received housing, medical care, meals, all household necessities, and schooling for the children. Properties and resources were shared. Jobs were assigned by their village council of brethren. No wages were received, because none were needed.

The Amana Colonies were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and today it is a thriving community founded on religious faith and community spirit, where the past is cherished and hospitality is a way of life.

Today we spent the day walking through downtown Amana, with all of its shops and museums. While the shops were somewhat disappointing (we were expecting to see goods made in The Amana Colonies in all the shops, but most of the junk was “made in China”), the vibe of the area is one of graciousness. Everyone we met in all the stores and museums were more than kind to us, and very willing to help us out with whatever we needed. We spent some time in the museum watching a video and learning about the history of these people through their displays (History lesson for today’s homeschool – yay!!)

We bought some fudge in one of the shops, and Jim even bought a hand-made knife, which is beautifully crafted by the Amana people, for chopping vegetables. He said the knife just needed to look at his lime and it chopped itself – LOL. Guess that thing is pretty sharp! For dinner, we went and ate a typical German family-style meal at the Ronneburg Restaurant, which was absolutely delicious! Now we are back at the camper at Amana RV Resort enjoying a nice cool evening outside the camper and yelling at the Huskies who keep trying to get at the Ground Squirrels by digging them out of their holes. The Ground Squirrels are kinda like Whack-A-Mole – they pop their little heads up out of their holes in the ground and drive my doggies nuts!!

All in all its been a great day. Tomorrow we will head out of here toward Madison County so I can see the covered bridges!

Today I am grateful for: My health and my ability to walk for hours to see all of the places we wanted to see in this interesting piece of history.