Amana
Heritage Museum, Amana #16
www.amanaheritage.org
One of your first stops in the
Amana Colonies should be the Amana Heritage Museum. With an
award-winning, 20-minute video, exhibits in three communal
era buildings and grounds recalling turn of the century
Amana life, the museum tells Amana's story from 18th century
Germany to the present. The Amana Heritage Museum is among
Iowa's top historical attractions. Special programs and
exhibits. Museum store.
Open 10 a.m-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday;
Noon-4 p.m. Sunday, April 1-October 31. Open Saturdays only
in March, November and December. Admission. 319-622-3567.
Amana
Community
Church Museum, Homestead #4
www.amanaheritage.org
Whether you want to learn more about Amana or simply wish to
experience a setting uniquely suited to reflection, visit
the 1865 Saal (church or meeting house) in Homestead. guides
discuss religious beliefs and practices of the Amana Church,
while explaining the unique history and architecture of this
140-year-old church.
Open 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 1-October 31. Admission. 319-622-3567.
Communal Agriculture
Museum, South Amana #2
www.amanaheritage.org
Built in 1858 the South Amana barn
housing the Communal Agriculture Museum is one of the oldest
in the seven colonies. Tools, implements and photographs
from Amana's communal era depict operations on the nation's
largest communal farm.
Open 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 27-September 2. Admission. 319-622-3567.
Communal
Kitchen and Cooper Shop Museum, Middle Amana #2
www.amanaheritage.org
Preserved just as it was on the day in
1932 when the last communal meal was served in Amana,
visiting the Communal Kitchen and the Cooper Shop across the
street is like stepping back in time. Guides explain kitchen
routines and share insights on communal Amana life. Popular
with all ages, the Communal Kitchen and Cooper Shop is an
historical treasure.
Open 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 1-October 31. Admission. 319-622-3567.
High
Amana General Store,
High Amana #2
www.amanaheritage.org
319-622-3232
This 1858 sandstone general store looks very much as it did
100 years ago when it served village residents and traded
with farmers living near High Amana. The Amana Heritage
Society still operates this dry good store offering
merchandise reminiscent of bygone days.
Open
10-5 Monday - Saturday, noon -4
Sunday April - October.
Open
Saturdays and Sundays only in
March, November and December.
Homestead
Blacksmith Shop, Homestead
www.amanaheritage.org
The original village blacksmith shop. Learn about
the role of the blacksmith in the economic life of the
community. Demonstrations.
Open Saturdays May 27 - September 2, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Homestead Store Museum,
Homestead #8
www.amanaheritage.org
Commerce sustained communal Amana and
its importance is explored at this historic site recently
renovated and opened by the Amana Heritage Society. Craft
and industry, plus an examination of the community's
relationship with the "outside world," are
depicted. Open storage of museum artifacts and display of
colony buildings in miniature make the Homestead Store well
worth discovering.
Open 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday
- Friday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday. May 1 - October 31.
Admission. 319-622-3567.
Industrial
Machine Shop Museum, Amana #47
Machinists and blacksmiths in this shop
kept the Woolen Mill and other industries running smoothly. Various
tools, some dating to 1860, on display.
Free Admission.
319-622-3482.
Mini-Americana
Barn Museum, South Amana #1
www.barnmuseum.com
barnmus@netins.net
Two hundred miniature replicas, in the
scale of one inch to one foot, built by woodworker Henry
Moore telling early rural history from 1880 to 1930.
Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. April-October.
Admission. 319-622-3058.
Opa's Tractor
Barn Museum, West
Amana #2
Walk through an 1883 barn with hand-pegged chestnut beams.
Agricultural history memorabilia, Minneapolis-Moline,
barnyard in miniature and more. America's agricultural past
preserved for the future.
Seasonal. Open 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Admission.
eeking
religious freedom, the early settlers of the Amanas left Germany
in 1842, settling near Buffalo, New York. In 1855, the "Community
of True Inspiration" moved west, forming their first village
along the Iowa River. Eventually, 26,000 acres were purchased
and six more villages settled. Their communal system was essentially
unchanged for 89 years, one of the longest-lasting communal societies
in the world. All land and buildings were owned by the community;
families were assigned living quarters, and each person over
school age worked at assigned tasks in the kitchens, fields,
factories or shops. In 1932, the people voted to end the communal
way of life. They created the Amana Church Society to direct
matters of their faith, and the Amana Society, Inc. to oversee
their businesses and farming operations. Today, many of the businesses
in the Amana Colonies are independently owned and operated.
ATM
