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AMANA COLONIES A council of church elders governed the villages of the Amana Colonies
according to a social system based on religious principles and
The seven villages of the Amana Colonies were founded in 1855 by a communal ownership of property. Families were provided with living
German religious group known as the Community of True Inspiration quarters and household necessities, while meals were prepared in
who had left their previous settlement in Ebenezer, New York to communal kitchen houses. Each adult worked without wages for the
establish a settlement in Iowa. They called their new home “Amana,” a community at assigned jobs in the factories, shops, fields, and kitchens.
biblical name from the Song of Solomon 4:8 that signifies “remain true.” Daily life revolved around work and eleven weekly church services.
By the end of 1855 the village of Amana was home to 74 community
members. Within a decade, the community had purchased nearly The communal system in Amana lasted until 1932 when community
26,000 acres and established six more villages (Middle Amana, High members voted to abandon communalism, incorporating their
Amana, West Amana, South Amana, Homestead, and East Amana). economic holdings into the profit-sharing Amana Society, Inc. Religious
Each village had a church, residences, craft shops, and farm. With beliefs and traditions continued in the re-organized Amana Church
agriculture and textile production as an economic base, the Amana Society.
community flourished, reaching a peak population of 1,800 in the late Life in the Amana villages still is shaped in part by the community’s
nineteenth century.
religious, communal, and German heritage. Several local organizations,
The Community of True Inspiration had its origins in Germany in 1714 including the Amana Heritage Society and the Amana Arts Guild,
as part of a religious movement called Pietism. Like other Pietists, the actively work to preserve the buildings, landscape, and cultural heritage
Inspirationists emphasized personal religious experience, piety, and of the community. Amana Society, Inc., still owns the agricultural land
humility. Their belief that God still communicated directly to people, of the former communal society and plays a major role in the economic
just as to the prophets of the Old Testament, set them apart from other and social life of the community. Amana Appliances, founded by
Pietist groups. Government persecution and difficult economic times Amana people soon after the end of the communal system, is a major
forced the community to immigrate to America in 1843, first to New York employer and markets home appliances around the world. The Amana
and then to Iowa. Church Society, with a membership of 350 adults, continues as the
religious foundation of the Amanas.
The villages have become a major tourist destination. As the site of one
of the nation’s largest and longest-lived communal utopian societies
(1855–1932), the Amana Colonies were designated a National Historic
Landmark (NHL) in 1965 based on their significance to United States
social and economic history. The seven Amana villages, 26,000
surrounding acres, and over 720 extant communal-era buildings form
one of the largest NHLs in the country.
The Amana Colonies share a legacy with other communal utopian
societies in the United States, representing the American impulse for
cooperative efforts rather than individualism, and the motivation to
re-shape society through utopian experiments. America’s communal
