Peter Hoehnle Livres

This beautifully illustrated book gives an overview of the Amana community from its founding in Germany, first settlement in New York, and permanent dwelling in eastern Iowa. It focuses on Iowa's Amana Colonies: seven villages that are the longest lasting of America's communal groups. It gives an up-to-date account of the Amana Society's successful reorganization into separate church and business organizations. A treasure! The German immigrants who settled the Amana Colonies of Iowa in 1855 brought with them a rich cultural heritage of arts and crafts. That heritage is explored and celebrated in this book. This comprehensive title explores everything from clock making, furniture, and woodworking to basketry, caning, and carpet weaving. Full-color photographs by photographer Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret show the beauty that abounds in Amana, including gorgeous gardens and architecture. Together, the text and photos become their own work of art.

The Amana Colonies were founded by members of the Community of True Inspiration, a Pietist sect that originated in southwest Germany in 1714. Beginning in 1842, members of the sect migrated to New York and founded the Eben-Ezer Society, in which land, shops, and homes were owned communally. Members worked at assigned jobs, attended 11 church services each week, and received food, clothing, and shelter. Beginning in 1855, the community relocated to a 26,000-acre tract in eastern Iowa, where they founded the seven Amana villages, each with its own church, school, general store, craft shop, and barns. A disastrous fire, economic downturns, and a growing dissatisfaction with communal life led the members to vote to reorganize as a separate business and church organization in 1932. Images of America: Amana Colonies: 1932-1945 examines a time when the Amana people worked to preserve aspects of their traditional religious and cultural life while, simultaneously, learning to embrace American life and the waves of people who visited these unique villages in growing numbers.