The Herrs, representative of Mennonites (Anabaptists), were not long term residents of Germany. We do not have proof or details, but it is likely that they moved to Germany at the conclusion of the Thirty Years' War, which ended in 1648. The war had wrecked devastation on southwest German to the extent that in some areas the population was reduced to about one-third what it had been. The rulers felt the loss of income from taxes. To increase the taxes, they needed more people living in their area. Some reasonably attractive offers were made to encourage people to move to their part of Germany.
The Anabaptists in Switzerland had been living under pressure for more than a hundred years. The pressure was exerted on them by the state (the Cantons), and by the Reformed Church, which felt that Anabaptist thought and beliefs should be stamped out. Some of the methods used were martyrdom and expulsion from the country. The offer of the German princes after the Thirty Years' War, and the pressure exerted from within Switzerland, caused many Anabaptists to move to Germany.
The situation in Germany for the Anabaptists was better, but not ideal. There were restrictions placed on them. Owning property was difficult, if not entirely forbidden. They could not have church buildings of their own, but had to meet in their homes. It was forbidden to seek new members from outside the existing group. If they grew too numerous in an area, some members of the group had to move to new communities. There were taxes which only they had to pay. There was always the chance that they might be called to military service, which their consciences forbid them to do.
Before 1680, a real estate promoter came through the area along the Rhine River and said that he had a lot of cheap land in America and that one could follow his conscience in religious matters. Several Mennonites took William Penn up on his offer and founded Germantown outside Philadelphia in about the year 1683. In the following years, several additions were made to this group. These Mennonites were urban dwellers, not farmers. Still, the word spread among the Mennonites in general.
But no mass movement ensued in the next thirty years among the Mennonites, or the Germans in general. It was a big move across the Atlantic Ocean, and the reports from the first ones were limited. A big exodus did occur in the year 1709, and then the Herr party left in the year 1710. More people left in the next few years. By then, the word was spreading that America was an alternative. Germans became more open to the idea that they could move.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.