Barbara Heinemann Landmann - Charles Nordhoff Visits The Amana Colonies, 1874.

Charles Nordhoff Visits The Amana Colonies, 1874.

In 1874 Charles Nordhoff, gathering materials for The Communistic Societies of the United States (Nordhoff, 1875), visited the Amana Colonies in Iowa. He reports:

The society has at this time 1450 members; owns about 25,000 acres of land; lives on this land in seven different small towns; carries on agriculture and manufactures of several kinds, and is highly prosperous. Its members are all Germans. The base of its organization is religion; they are pietists; and their religious head, at present a woman, is supposed by them to speak by direct inspiration of God. Hence they call themselves "Inspirationists."

The religious head whom Nordhoff met was Barbara Heinemann Landmann. At the time, she was 80 years old. Each of the seven towns mentioned by Nordhoff consisted of a single congregation of Inspirationists. There were no outsiders in any of the towns, except for the hired hands, who were sometimes given a place to stay. The seven towns were within a few hours journey from each other, so it was not difficult for Barbara to manifest in each of them the word of the Lord.

The geographic arrangement of congregations had not always been so convenient for the Inspirationists. During their earlier years in Europe, some congregations might be several days' journey apart. Their separation might lead them to differences of opinion about the authority of those who claimed to be inspired. A congregation was usually a minority within a village, and an unpopular one. Because of dissension among the congregations and persecution by outsiders, Barbara's early years with the Inspirationists were tumultuous, especially when compared with the peace and order that Nordhoff found in the Amana Colonies.