[Continuing with the Hutterites]
After the end of WW II, the Hutterites prospered. From the original three colonies, they have grown to about 300 colonies in Canada, and 135 in the United States. Division in the US is 60 in South Dakota, 60 in Montana, 6 in Minnesota, and 4 in Washington. Their total population is about 60,000.
They hold to the original principles of adult baptism, avoiding oaths, consider the Lord's Supper as a memorial, and maintaining a separation from the world. They do, though, welcome visitors. They believe that it will be better for outsiders to understand them better. One colony, Hutterville, near Stratford, South Dakota, specializes in tours of their settlement. When the mother colony of Hutterville split in 1982, no one knew in advance how people would be divided. The decision was made by casting lots.
Hutterville is a small village of 105 people. It has its own electricity generator, fire engine, grain elevator, geothermal heating and cooling system, beehives, schoolhouse, and cemetery. It has a well-equipped mechanical shop, carpentry shop, and metal shop. There are very few services that they must go outside for.
The farm operation itself has 7,000 acres in production for corn, wheat, and soybeans. They try to be as organic as possible. They tend 12,000 hogs, 200 beef cows, and 120 milk cows. One man is the minister and acts as the spokesperson to the outside world. The farm boss delegates agricultural work, and the steward approves purchases. There are sub-bosses beneath the top. The women have a chief cook and chief gardener. Throughout the colony, modern equipment is used.
A whistle summons them to dinner, which is eaten in a communal dining hall, men on one side, and women on the other. Within each group, seating is by age and rank. Children 15 and under have a separate dining room.
Education begins at two and a half years, with an introduction to German songs and prayers, and to group cooperation. At age five, the students begin German School, to learn Hutterite tenets, and the High German language. This goes on, at two hours per day, for ten years. They admit to using a Tirolean-German dialect in everyday affairs (unique to them with no written form), but they use High German in their sermons and songbooks. Then there are eight years of English school. At Hutterville, they used certified teachers, in an effort to raise the educational level. Students are encouraged to complete 12 grades of school. Some look forward to even higher levels of education.
Nothing takes precedence over religious practice. The members meet every day for worship, and twice on Sunday. The church is devoid of any decorations.
(05 Sep 02)
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.