Government The Great Council of the Brethren, also known as the Board of Trustees, oversaw the affairs and conduct of the Amana Society. Trustees were expected to tend to the internal affairs of the Society as well as its external business interests. Trustees were elected annually by popular vote from the elders of the Community. The trustees elected out of their own a president, vice president, and secretary; incumbents running for re-election were usually re-elected. The group met alternately in different villages on the first Tuesday of each month. Each June, the trustees were expected to keep the Society informed of the general condition of its affairs. The Great Council also served as the high court of the Community. Each village was governed by a group of seven to nineteen elders. Decisions was made for each village by the group of elders, led by one of the trustees. This governing board was known as the
Bruderrath. Elders were selected based on their piety and spirituality.
Werkzeug had the authority to appoint elders, but at times when there were no such individuals, they were selected by the Great Council. The
Bruderrath had the authority to appoint foremen for each industry. Individuals could petition the
Bruderrath if they sought more money, a larger house, or a lighter workload. The Head Elder had the highest level of authority in each village, even over the
Bruderrath trustee. Each community member was provided with an annual sum, with men receiving $40 to $100 a year depending on their career, women receiving $25 to $30 a year, and parents of children receiving an additional $5 to $10 per child. This money was expected to be spent at village stores. Members who failed to budget adequately would be admonished by the Community. If the member did not mend his ways, they could be expelled by the community. Members who were expelled or voluntarily left the Community would receive all of the money they had invested into the common fund plus interest.
Marriage and children Originally,
marriage was permitted only "with the consent of God" through the
Werkzeug. Marriage was considered a spiritual weakness. Ceremonies were not joyous affairs, but were instead designed to impress the importance of the task upon the couple. Childbearing was similarly discouraged. Views on marriage gradually liberalized, and the Great Council was later given the authority to approve marriage. Men were not allowed to marry until they were 24 years old. If the Great Council found no fault with the union, then the couple could be wed after a year's wait. An elder would bless the marriage and the community would provide a wedding feast. The community did not recognize
divorce, and second marriages (even in the case of a
widow) were considered particularly reprehensible. A citizen would be expelled from the community for one year for marrying an individual outside of the colonies, even if the partner wished to join the society.
Dining There was no cooking in the homes of Amana citizens; instead, citizens originally ate together in groups of thirty to forty-five. Communal kitchens, each with its own garden, hosted meals. Men sat at one table while women and small children sat at another. Prayers were said in German before and after meals. Meals were not considered social affairs so conversation was discouraged. The community had fifty-five communal kitchens: sixteen in Amana, ten in Middle Amana, nine in Homestead, six in South and West Amana, and four in East and High Amana. The kitchen boss () was tasked with kitchen operations: cooking, serving, preserving, and chicken husbandry. Kitchen personnel were appointed by the
Bruderrat. Communal kitchens were usually large, two-story structures with an attached residence for the
Küchebaas. Kitchens typically had a large brick hearth stove, a wood- or coal-burning oven, and a sink. Though kitchens originally had to bring water from the nearest well, they were the first buildings to be connected to the colony waterworks. Kitchens were named after the Küchebaas. The communal kitchen concept eroded some time around 1900, as married residents began to eat in their own homes. Food was still cooked in the communal kitchens, but housewives would take the food home. Kitchen staff and single residents still ate in the communal kitchens. Each kitchen operated individually and had different practices. However, menus were largely standardized across the colonies to prevent any residents from receiving more than their fair share. On Saturday nights, pork sausages or
pork rinds, boiled potatoes,
cottage cheese with
chives, bread with cream cheese, and
streusel were served. The noon meal on Sunday was rice soup, fried potatoes,
creamed spinach, boiled beef, streusel, and tea or coffee. Menus changed with the seasons; for example, more beef and pork was served in the autumn and winter because it was easier to keep fresh meat.
Work Common positions held by women were in the kitchens, communal gardens, and laundry, among eight occupations. Men on the other hand had 39 different jobs to choose from, including barber, butcher, tailor, machine shop worker, and doctor. Children also participated in jobs, such as harvesting and agricultural duties for boys and kitchen work for the girls. Children stayed with their mothers until they were two years old. Then, the child would have to attend Kinderschule until the age of seven. At that point, the child would attend school six days a week, all year round until the age of fourteen or fifteen. At school, they shelled, cleaned and graded seed corn, picked fruit, and studied reading, writing and arithmetic. Amana was known for its hospitality towards outsiders. Members would never turn a person in need away. They fed and sheltered the homeless who passed through on the train. Some were hired as laborers. They received good wages, a permit home for the length of their stay and three meals a day in the communal kitchen. The homeless were not the only outside help. Amana hired many outside laborers to do industrial and agricultural jobs. They worked in the woolen shop, the calico-printing shop or the many other workplaces.
Worship Another important governing aspect of the society was the church, which was run by the board of trustees. Children and their parents worshiped together. Mothers with young children sat in the back of the church. Other children sat in the first few rows. Men and women were separated during worship: men on one side and women on the other side of the church (this practice continues to this day). Older people and the "in-betweens" who were people in their thirties and forties had to attend a separate service. The service that members attended and where the members sat was a statement of their status in society. Services were held eleven times a week and did not include musical instruments and hymn singing.
Amana and the outside world Amana interacted with the outside world in two ways, buying and selling. Each village had a center of exchange where all goods were purchased. By the 1890s, these stores were buying a great amount of goods and raw materials from the outside world. Just Middle Amana alone had more than 732 invoices from outside companies. Amana purchased things deemed necessary to run the society efficiently, such as raw wool, oil, grease, starch, pipes and fittings. Most of the grain for the flour-mill was purchased from the outside, and the printing establishment used cotton goods from the southern states. Amana may have been an economically isolated society only in a small sense.
Great Change In March 1931, after the onset of the
Great Depression, the Great Council disclosed to the Amana Society that the villages were in dire financial condition. The Colony felt the Depression particularly harshly because a fire had badly damaged the woolen mill and destroyed the flour mill less than ten years earlier. At the same time, Society members were seeking more personal freedom. The Society agreed to split into two organizations: The non-profit Amana Church Society oversaw the spiritual needs of the community, while the for-profit Amana Society was incorporated as a
joint-stock company. The transition was completed in 1932 and came to be known in the community as the Great Change. ==Since the Great Change==