History
Our Bruderhof community movement was founded in 1920 by Eberhard Arnold, his wife Emmy, and her sister Else von Hollander. Leaving the comforts of Berlin, they settled in the village of Sannerz, Germany. Here they sought to live out a vision of society based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in which love and justice replace violence, isolation, and greed. Other like-minded people soon came to Sannerz. The settlement grew rapidly, and in 1927 it was necessary to expand to a second location, a nearby farm. There they adopted the name “Bruderhof,” which translates literally as “place of brothers”.
Hitler's rise to power brought persecution. As a Gestapo official wrote at the time, the Bruderhof community “represents a worldview totally opposed to National Socialism.” Not only did they take in Jews; they moved their children and young men to Liechtenstein (the former to avoid Nazi instructors, the latter to avoid military service).
In 1937, after two raids by the secret police, the community's leaders were arrested, the community forcibly dissolved, and the rest were given 48 hours to leave the country. Fortunately, the imprisoned members were later released, and migration to England was made possible by the handful of British members. By 1938 everyone had moved to a new location in the Cotswolds. next >>