History
Founded over a century ago in the small German village of Sannerz, the Bruderhof has been shaped and propelled in part by the political and social events of the Western world. Despite inter-continental migrations and many challenges and changes, we recognize clearly God’s protection and guidance over the years since our beginnings in 1920. When the group outgrew the house at Sannerz, they moved to the nearby Rhön Mountains. While there, Arnold discovered that the Hutterites (an Anabaptist movement he had studied with great interest) were still in existence in North America. In 1930, he traveled to meet the Hutterites and was ordained as a Hutterian minister.
With the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, the Rhön community moved its draft-age men and children to Liechtenstein around 1934 because of their conscientious refusal to serve in the armed forces and to accept Nazi teachings. This community became known as the Alm Bruderhof. Continuing pressure from the Nazi government caused others to move to England and found the Cotswold Bruderhof in 1936. On 14 April 1937 secret police surrounded the Rhön Bruderhof, confiscated the property, and gave the remaining community members forty-eight hours to flee the country. By 1938, all the Bruderhof members had reassembled in England. Over the next fifteen years, the community’s ranks swelled with young people from all over Europe, eventually numbering 150.
After Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, however, the community became a target of National Socialist oppression because of its stand of conscience. For instance, members refused to use the Heil Hitler greeting, serve in the German army, or accept a government teacher in their school. In 1937, the secret police dissolved the community at gunpoint, seizing its assets, imprisoning several members, and giving the rest forty-eight hours to leave. In 1954, the first American community was founded in Rifton, New York. Today there are Bruderhof communities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Paraguay, and Australia.
With the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, the Rhön community moved its draft-age men and children to Liechtenstein around 1934 because of their conscientious refusal to serve in the armed forces and to accept Nazi teachings. This community became known as the Alm Bruderhof. Continuing pressure from the Nazi government caused others to move to England and found the Cotswold Bruderhof in 1936. On 14 April 1937 secret police surrounded the Rhön Bruderhof, confiscated the property, and gave the remaining community members forty-eight hours to flee the country. By 1938, all the Bruderhof members had reassembled in England. Over the next fifteen years, the community’s ranks swelled with young people from all over Europe, eventually numbering 150.
After Hitler’s rise to power in 1933, however, the community became a target of National Socialist oppression because of its stand of conscience. For instance, members refused to use the Heil Hitler greeting, serve in the German army, or accept a government teacher in their school. In 1937, the secret police dissolved the community at gunpoint, seizing its assets, imprisoning several members, and giving the rest forty-eight hours to leave. In 1954, the first American community was founded in Rifton, New York. Today there are Bruderhof communities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Paraguay, and Australia.
© 2025 Sons of Old Germany |