The Amana Colonies

The visitors center is an old corn crib.
A clapboard siding building.
Stone and wood building
Old Barns
Stone House
Nanc wanted it but we did not have room.
Harry the broom maker

We stayed at the Amana RV Park while visiting the Amana Colonies of Amana, East Amana, Middle Amana, High Amana, West Amana, South Amana and Homestead. These small towns were started in 1855 as an agricultural commune based on a religious movement from Germany known as Pietism. The residents received all their necessary resources in exchange for their labor. In addition to farming, craftsmen worked in the woolen mill, the brewery or produced furniture and other goods in workshops. While they continue to follow the same religious practices today the communal system ended in 1932 in part because of the economic hardships of the Great Depression but also to keep the children from leaving. For the first time community members worked for wages and owned their own homes and businesses. At that point the Amana Society, Inc., a profit-sharing corporation, was formed to manage the farmland, mills and other enterprises. Private business was encouraged and the largest started in 1934 was Amana Appliances which has since been sold to Whirlpool and continues to produce appliances in the same factory. Today the Amana Society owns the land, including the largest private forest in Iowa, and operates the campground, general store, woolen mill, furniture and clock shop, and the meat shop as well as seven museums. About half of the businesses, wineries, restaurants, inns and shops are privately owned and in most cases by descendants. Future plans include German noodle and organic soft drink companies that will be building plants there. Many of the buildings in the colonies are uniquely constructed with brick, stone or clapboard exterior walls and date back to the mid 1800's. We talked to a couple of old timers who have lived in the colonies their entire lives and like many of the residents speak German. They both worked in the colony and one of the gentlemen, Harry, continues to make brooms in the old way for sale in a shop. Harry was recently recognized by the Czech Republic for his service during WW II. While we were in Amana we had a major computer crash and so we are a little behind with the blog. After a few days, with the help of Dell and the local repair shop, all seems to be well with the computer and we were able to save all our files including all our pictures. We really do need a back up.